Jewish settlers said Tuesday that they'll take their fight to the streets, and militants among them threatened violence and civil war, inflammatory comments a day after they lost the final political battle against Israel's planned Gaza Strip withdrawal.
Settlers pledged to mobilize tens of thousands of protesters this summer to prevent troops from evacuating all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank. They said they would try to shut down large areas of the country by blocking roads and intersections. In this relation, Israel's Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra said on Tuesday that an official from the Settlers Council had appealed to him with a suggestion that Gaza Strip settlers` weapons be collected prior to the pullout from the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, Israel's parliament voted down a proposal to hold a national referendum on the so-called withdrawal, depriving pullout opponents of the last major political weapon in their arsenal. A referendum would have delayed and possibly scuttled a withdrawal.
