Lawmaker: Ban Arabs from enforcing withdrawal

JERUSALEM – An Arab lawmaker will propose a Knesset bill next week seeking to ban all Druze Arab soldiers from participating in the evacuation of Jewish communities from Gaza and parts of the West Bank this summer, WorldNetDaily has learned.

Arab Druze Knesset Member Ayoob Kara, from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party, told WND in an exclusive interview yesterday he will introduce the bill next week because he doesn't think Arabs should uproot Jews from their homes.

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"My community didn't come to Israel to rip Jews out of their houses," Kara said. "Druze Arabs gladly become soldiers in the Israeli Defense Forces to defend Israel from its enemies and to participate in operations that will make Israel a safer place. We don't want to be used to do something immoral and damaging like the Gaza evacuation."

Kara's proposed bill follows a request yesterday from a Druze soldier to be excused from participating in the evacuation. It was the first request of its kind.

Arab Druze Sgt. Timor Abdallah sent a letter to the IDF's new chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, blasting the Gaza withdrawal.

"When my colleagues and I are demanded to participate in operations whose objective is to defend the country and its citizens, we feel obliged to participate," wrote Abdallah. "But when we are asked to participate in an operation against the people we are meant to defend – our consciences would tremble eternally."

Earlier this week, a senior Druze border policeman in Gaza was fired after he told his superiors he will refuse to enforce the withdrawal, to which his police unit had been assigned.

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Kara told WND he fears the Gaza evacuation could rip apart the Israeli army:

"It is going to be a tragedy, because there are a very large number of soldiers who, when it comes time, will not participate. The IDF is already being torn in two. And I don't want my community to be a part of that."

Kara boasts a large constituency from Israel's 100,000 Druze residents.

There are some 600,000 Druze in the Middle East and another 100,000 in various parts of the world. During Israel's War of Independence, many Druze, including Kara's family, sided with the Jews, embracing Israel and joining its military. Israeli Arabs are exempt from military duty, but many Druze apply to serve anyway.

While this week's defections mark the first Arab refusals, hundreds of Jewish soldiers the past few months have stated publicly they would not participate in the Gaza withdrawal if asked.

In perhaps the most high-profile case of a Jewish soldier refusing, the enlisted son of the police chief responsible for overseeing the withdrawal told WorldNetDaily in March he thinks the Gaza evacuation is "wrong," and he will not participate if his unit is ordered to take part.

The withdrawal has stirred much debate within the ranks of the IDF. Officials expect a sizable number of settlers to revolt against the plan and predict violent confrontations with law enforcement.

IDF leaders won an ongoing debate the past few months to employ police instead of soldiers to remove Jewish settlers, explaining police units are more properly trained in the confrontation of civilian dissenters and have more legal authority and maneuvering room than do IDF soldiers when it comes to domestic issues.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has said he, too, would prefer soldiers not take part in evacuations.

Select Israeli police units reportedly have been learning techniques to carry out the withdrawal process, including putting down settler revolts and confronting Jews who refuse to leave their homes.

Said Kara: "Quietly, most leaders of the army and police are terrified because they can't predict what enforcing the evacuation is going to do to their units, but they know it will not be good."

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Withdrawal chief's son says he'll refuse orders