Staking Their Claim to a ‘Greater Israel’
Times staff photographer Rick Loomis’ lens is turned today to Jewish settlers, who have been supported by successive Israeli governments in laying claim to a “Greater Israel†stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The land where they have built communities, raised crops and reared children is claimed by Palestinians as part of their future state. Today, few people believe a peace agreement is possible unless settlers relinquish at least some of this territory.
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The 225,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip make up less than 4% of Israel’s Jewish population, but they have long wielded significant political clout. The settler movement has presented fierce resistance to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to uproot the 21 settlements in Gaza plus four small ones in the West Bank. Settlers and their allies, many of whom believe the land is theirs by biblical birthright, are working to topple the Sharon government, and some extremists have threatened to kill the prime minister. The Israeli leader once urged the settlers to seize every West Bank hilltop they could, and he envisioned the Gaza settlements as a bulwark against invasion from the south. But in a recent speech, he borrowed an admonishment from late Prime Minister Menachem Begin and pleaded with the settlers to guard against their own “messianic†tendencies.
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On the Web: For previous parts and additional photography, visit latimes.com/roadblocks.
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