Liberman: No tolerance for violence at Amona

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said Thursday there will be no tolerance for violence by protesters at the Amona outpost.

Israeli security forces are expected to begin evacuating the illegal West Bank outpost in the coming days, and residents have said they will resist the government eviction.

“There is understanding and a will to accommodate the residents of Amona as much as possible,” Liberman said, speaking at a Limmud FSU conference in the southern city of Eilat. “But it must be clear — there will be no acceptance and no tolerance of violence against IDF soldiers and members of the security forces.”

“I see organization [for violence] and I see several well-known faces there. I hear voices speaking about violent opposition,” Liberman said, a day after dozens of protesters began to flock to the site. “I call to all the residents of Amona and to all the guests who came in solidarity — simply take [violence] off the agenda.”

Liberman said that he empathizes with the residents of the illegal outpost, and is holding out hope they will reach a compromise with the government before the December 25 evacuation date. The defense minister’s comments came less than 24 hours after the residents of Amona rejected a government plan that would have seen them relocated to nearby plots.

“I hope that at the last minute we will find a solution for the residents of Amona and they will not be forcibly evacuated,” he said. “These are people who are having their homes taken away from them — some of them for a second time. I understand them.”

Amona residents have called for passive resistance only to the slated evacuation, but attempts to remove some buildings in the illegal West Bank outpost in 2006 resulted in violent clashes between protesters and security forces.

Liberman also spoke about Syria, noting that Israel has three clear objectives with regard to the conflict. “The first is to prevent any damage to the security of Israeli citizens,” he said. “Second is to prevent any harm to Israeli sovereignty, and thirdly we must not get involved. We have no reason. Nobody has asked us [to get involved].”

Liberman described Syrian President Bashar Assad as a “butcher who slaughters his people.” He said that it is “forbidden to accept him as a legitimate leader.”

“Our interest is the removal of Assad and of the Iranians in Syria. But nobody has asked for our opinion,” Liberman said. “Israel’s number one threat is Iran, and I’m leaving aside the nuclear issue. Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad all exist primarily due to Iranian funding.”