Five years after it was first agreed to in principle by
Israel and the Palestinians, Israel has opened a safe passage
route for Palestinians traveling between Judea, Samaria and
the Gaza Strip. Opposition politicians criticized the
operation of the route on Shabbos and Jewish holy days.
Monday's move should bolster Palestinian confidence in the
peace process, Israeli officials said.
The opening brought the promise of contact for separated
families and friends and represented an important milestone
for Palestinian aspirations for an independent state. It may
also open up job opportunities for unemployed Gazans.
The route was opened Monday, four weeks after its scheduled
October 1 opening under the terms of a land-for-security
agreement signed last month in Egypt.
A route was first proposed in the 1994 Cairo Agreement, but
its implementation became snagged in repeated disagreements
between the two sides.
Israeli officials said Monday they expect that some 1,000
Palestinians per day will use the route, which will link Gaza
with a point near the West Bank town of Hebron and be open
from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Chairman of the Likud, Ariel Sharon, Likud member Moshe
Katzav, as well as Rechavam Zeevi from the Ichud Haleumi,
strongly protested the fact that the Safe Passage Agreement
allows the operation of the passage every day, including
Shabbos and holidays, causing massive Shabbos desecration.
These objections were raised last week at a meeting of the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee.
When Internal Affairs Minister Shlomo ben Ami, who signed the
agreement on Israel's behalf, appeared before the committee,
Sharon, Katzav and Zeevi objected to the Safe Passage
Agreement with the Palestinians and protested the expected
Shabbos desecration. "How is it that according to the
agreement the passages will be open on Shabbos and holidays?
This will cause massive, disgraceful Shabbos desecration. In
order to operate the passage, many people will necessarily be
employed," Sharon and Katzav said.
Sharon added: "We don't allow El Al to operate on Shabbos,
but in this case we are openly sanctioning Shabbos
desecration. Tomorrow someone will claim that El Al can also
operate on Shabbos."
Moshe Katzav said that the Hours of Rest Law is also a social
law. "People must be allowed to rest. Now we will be
depriving many people of their rest on Shabbos and
holidays."
MK Yael Dayan (One Israel) asked that passage on Shabbos and
holidays be unlimited and that the number of workers not be
decreased, since Shabbos is not the Moslem rest day.
Internal Affairs Minister Shlomo ben Ami claimed that these
agreements had been signed in Oslo and at Wye, and include
provisions which pertain to open passage on Shabbos and
holidays, and thus cannot be changed.
MK Nissim Zeev (Shas) asked for an investigation of whether
the extent of the activity at the safe passage could be
decreased on Shabbos so that fewer people would be employed
on that day. Ben Ami said, "The agreement contains a clause
which enables special passage arrangements. I will examine
whether this clause can be adopted with respect to
Shabbos."
Israel issued 600 magnetic cards enabling Palestinians to
travel from Gaza to the West Bank. About 400 cards were
issued for the trip in the opposite direction. The permits
are good for three months.
Under terms recently agreed to by Israeli and Palestinian
negotiators, private Palestinian cars are granted 90 minutes,
and buses two hours, to complete the route. Failure to
complete the trip in the allotted time will prompt Israeli
authorities to search for the vehicle.
Until now, Palestinians have been unable to travel through
Israel between Gaza and Judea and Samaria and Palestinians
have also required special permits to enter Israel.
At the Erez Crossing, which separates Israel from the Gaza
Strip, Moussa Abu Sa'adeh was the first Palestinian driver to
embark on the route. He told Israel's Channel Two he was
headed for Ramallah, which he had not visited in five
years.
At the nearby Yad Mordechai junction, a small group of
Israelis demonstrated against the route, saying it will
create security problems for nearby Israeli towns.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are still hammering out
the details of a second route, which will link Gaza with the
northern Judea, near Ramallah.
