From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 16, 2017
Labor head Gabbay: We don’t need to evacuate settlements
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLabor party leader Avi Gabbay tells Channel 2 news he is not necessarily in favor of evacuating West Bank settlements as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians, a statement that seems to augur a sharp right-wing turn for the new head of the dovish faction.
“I wouldn’t evacuate settlements as part of a deal,” he says in a preview of an interview to be aired Tuesday. “If you make a deal you can find solutions that don’t include evacuation.”
When told he is not being realistic about trying to reach peace with the Palestinians, he responds sharply that at least he is trying, saying those who agree with Netanyahu’s method of saying there is no chance for a peace deal should vote for him instead.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are built on land Palestinians claim for a state of their own and removing settlements is a basic demand of Palestinians. Netanyahu has toyed with the idea of leaving the settlements in place if Israel should pull out of the West Bank, but has never detailed his plan and most do not regard it as a serious proposal.
Gabbay, a political neophyte who managed to take the opposition-leading party from the outside, despite formerly serving as a non MK minister in Netanyahu’s cabinet. During the campaign for the party’s leadership, he hewed closely to the party’s line of showing support only for settlements in major blocs thought likely to remain part of Israel for land swaps in a future deal.
He had called for Israel to invest in towns in Israel proper and not settlements, under the slogan “Dimona, not Amona,” referring to an illegal outpost that was razed.
On Saturday, Gabbay made headlines for telling an event in Beersheba he would not invite the Joint List of Arab parties to sit in a government he led.
The Times of Israel Community.