Intifada III

The sun has barely set on the Sharm el-Sheikh summit that officially ended the Al Aqsa Intifada, and Intifada III has already erupted. Only this time, it's the settlers who are at it - Jews against Jews.

An extremist minority is clashing with a Jewish majority, trying to sabotage the Sharm accord or any other agreement that brings the occupation to an end. This is not a legitimate protest against the decisions of the government and the Knesset in keeping with the norms of a democratic state. The settlers are playing with fire. They want to create a trauma that will wreck any chance of an agreement.

With people just beginning to worry over what will happen in the Katif Bloc when the disengagement starts, the right-wing extremists showed the whole country a small sample of what they're planning for before, during and after the evacuation. Blocking intersections and major traffic arteries, burning tires, disrupting life in every possible way. Like the bad guys in the cowboy movies who ride in and take over town, sowing panic and fear.

Their actions and scheming have not only crossed the red line, they have obliterated it. To wage their campaign, they drag in the Holocaust and the Nazis. They issue death threats. They've even stooped to necrophilia. You've got to be a lunatic or a heartless monster to threaten Sharon with digging up the bones of his beloved wife, Lily. Or to wish Transport Minister Meir Sheetrit's children the same fate as his younger daughter, who died of cancer 12 years ago, along with threats to desecrate her grave.

Benzi Lieberman, chairman of the Yesha Council, considered a moderate compared to the Kahane groupies and the hilltop youth, is threatening to flood the Katif Bloc with tens of thousands of people. "Let's see how you deal with that," he says. But the problem isn't so much the Katif Bloc, which can be closed off. Most of the inhabitants will probably be gone before the showdown begins, anyway.

The real danger lies in the plans of the extremists to paralyze the country and create such havoc that Israel's leaders may have second thoughts. What we're talking about is a hair-raising spectacle of provocation, death threats and insurrection that could balloon to monstrous proportions if not nipped in the bud. We all saw the pictures of teenage girls wrestling with policewomen on the evening news. We heard the officer who broke her collarbone say, with tears in her eyes, that what hurt the most was being called a Nazi.

The Yesha extremists and Kahane supporters have a state-of-the-art intelligence system. They know the addresses and travel routes of ministers and Knesset members. They know exactly where Limor Livnat, Bibi Netanyahu and others will be, and at what time, so that they can rush at them with curses and threats. 130,000 people showed up for the demonstration in Jerusalem. They have resources and a pile of money. They have the power to upset life in Israel and create a situation that the law enforcement authorities can do nothing about.

If this homegrown intifada wins, the State of Israel in its democratic configuration will no longer exist. Failure to carry out the disengagement plan will mean that Israel wants the occupation to continue. Not only will America withdraw its support of our right to maintain settlement blocs in the West Bank and our objection to a Palestinian right of return, the whole world will justify Intifada IV - an all-out war that the Palestinians are bound to declare on Israel. If this homegrown intifada wins, no heir of Sharon will be able to put the pieces back together.

In the course of Sharon's military career, which had its share of mistakes, the man was never known to retreat. Even in the worst of cases, he soldiered on. Is it any wonder he didn't like chief of staff Moshe (Bogey) Ya'alon's defeatist comment about disengagement providing "a tailwind for terror"? Reality has proven otherwise.

The majority of Israelis remain passive. They don't especially hate the settlers. Many even understand them. But the moment the settlers resort to violence and try to shut down the country, everything will change. The egotistical, primadonna-like behavior of our politicians at this critical juncture is scandalous. The government must unite and treat the insurgents like ticking bombs. The settlers are playing with fire. Losing this game could mean the end of Israel.