Settlers tell High Court: Every government promised we would stay

Gaza Strip settlers on Wednesday told the High Court of Justice that every Israeli government promised them that their settlement would never be uprooted.

In response to the state?s position to the settlers' petition against the disengagement plan that they should have foreseen the possibility of evacuation, the Legal Forum for the State of Israel, an organization of some 100 jurists, told the court, "[the state's argument] is an unreasonable argument, since all Israeli governments, both left and right, declared throughout the years that the settlements in the Gaza Strip would remain under Israeli sovereignty."

The State Prosecution presented its position on the settlers' petition against implementation of the disengagement plan last month.

According to the forum's chairman, Yitzhak Miron, both Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Vice Premier Shimon Peres have committed themselves explicitly to never lending a hand to the dismantling of the settlements.

In addition, the forum argued that it is becoming increasingly apparent that the "timetable established for the uprooting is unreasonable," and that the government did not adequately prepare to transfer the communities in their entirety, as opposed to dispersing the families in various communities.

"The government's haste will lead to a disaster, in which there will be a double uprooting, and thousands of innocent people will live in temporary housing for a long period of time," the settlers claim.

In its argument, the state cited a previous High Court ruling that said the status of the settlements is as temporary as the status of the land itself due to the fact that the settlements exist on land seized during war.

"The status of the territory and the Israeli settlements in it made it impossible for the settlers not to anticipate the possibility of uprooting at some point," said the prosecution.

In addition, the government, which established the settlements, is also entitled to uproot them, the prosecution argued.

The Gaza Coast regional council and settlers from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank petitioned the High Court to block the disengagement plan some two months ago.

The settlers argue that the disengagement violates their legal rights and "approves uprooting thousands of Israelis from their homes and turning them into refugees."

The settlers further claim the pullout contradicts the central principle of Israel's Declaration of Independence - the Jewish people's right to the Land of Israel.