Israel’s Shin Bet security services have nearly doubled their protection of Prime Minster Ariel Sharon and increased security of other lawmakers because of threats against a crucial vote next week on Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, security sources say.
Sharon made what some are calling a dramatic entrance into Israel’s Knesset yesterday surrounded by a dozen armed bodyguards, as security officials said they were on “high alert” for attacks against Sharon and other key lawmakers.
Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra, a former senior Shin Bet official, was evasive when asked about specific threats against Sharon or lawmakers. “If there were specific threats … we would deal with them,” he told Army Radio.
Minutes before Sharon’s arrival, three bodyguards cleared a Knesset hallway for him. In the parking lot, three Shin Bet guards looked into car windows, checked tires and peeped behind bushes. A fourth guard walked through the parking lot with a bomb-sniffing dog.
Parliament Speaker Reuven Rivlin confirmed lawmakers are concerned for their safety. “Members of parliament talk to each other, and many of them come to me. … They are talking about threats,” he told Channel Two television.
Sharon is to present his “disengagement” plan to Knesset Monday, followed by a vote Tuesday. The plan will be sent to a committee and be brought for a second and third vote in coming months.
Sharon is expected to win a majority in next week’s vote with the help of the moderate opposition Labor Party. A victory would give him strong momentum as he pushes forward.
Some settler leaders have accused Sharon of contriving reports of settler violence and extremism and quoting extremist statements to discredit the settlement movement and foment domestic and international opposition to the settlers ahead of the Prime Minister’s Gaza withdrawal vote.”
We have said continually that any protests we are planning will be entirely peaceful,” Jewish Legion head Mike Guzofsky told WorldNetDaily.
In June, leaders of the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the largest settlers group, signed a document, the “Covenant of Brothers,” that pledged to avert violence in the face of settler contention over Sharon’s disengagement plan and its implementation.
“It may be that an extremely small sector of settlers are thinking crazy thoughts, but this is not even a tangible minority,” a Yesha leader told WorldNetDaily.
