MK Elon: 'This is a Police State'

Arutz Sheva
Aug. 21, 2005

Police prevented Sderot residents from protesting near PM Sharon's ranch and barred a terror victim's family from traveling for psychological help. MK Elon says Israel has become a "police state."

Knesset Member Benny Elon (National Union) spent the Sabbath opposite Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Sycamore Ranch, protesting the expulsion of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria. He said police blocked Sderot residents who tried to join him. "It is unbelievable how they gag people," Elon exclaimed. "The [government] campaign 'for every evacuee there is a solution' was a lie."

The legislator said that both deception and roadblocks restricting citizens' freedom of movement have turned the country into a police state.

Yonatan Abukasis, whose daughter Ella was killed by a Kassam rocket while she was
protecting her brother during an attack in Sderot last year, said he police blockades prevented him from taking his family this past week for psychological treatment in Ashkelon, several miles west of Sderot. Police had closed off all the roads to prevent expulsion opponents from approaching Gush Katif.

"If Sharon thinks he is right, why does he hide in his house," he asked. "My daughter is hiding in a grave and he embraces his Shabaknikim [government internal security agents] at his ranch.

Police Saturday night fanned out at major intersections in an attempt to prevent expulsion opponents from blocking the country's roads. Supporters of expulsion victims visited them at hotels throughout the country Saturday.

The government intends to complete the expulsion of all Jews from Gaza on Sunday and Monday. Residents of Netzarim, Katif, Slav, Atzmona and Elei Sinai remained in their communities for the Sabbath.

The Cabinet is to convene on Sunday and vote on continuing with the expulsion of four northern Samaria communities later in the week. Residents of Ganim and Kadim have left their homes, and security officials have tried to block non-residents from arriving at Homesh and Sa-Nur. Thousands have begun to gather in the nearby community of Kedumim instead, using it as a launching-point for excursions on foot toward the threatened communities.