Anti-pullout rally in front of PM Office planned for Sunday

Following a successful 250,000-strong demonstration in Tel Aviv’s Kikar Rabin Thursday, the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip on Friday called on anti-disengagement protesters nationwide to convene in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Sunday night, several hours before the pullout is slated to begin. The evacuation of Jewish residents from the Gaza Strip will officially begin Sunday at midnight, when according to the disengagement bill it will be illegal for Jewish civilians to be inside the Gaza Strip. Saturday night marks the beginning of the fast day of Tisha B’av, which will conclude Sunday at sunset. Settler leaders hope to draw tens of thousand of opponent of the pullout plan to the Western Wall plaza all day Sunday for prayer and mourning. On Wednesday, 70,000 gathered at the wall to protest the plan. Yesha leaders continued Friday to call on activists to flock the entries to Gush Katif, and said they would continue making such calls at Sunday night’s rally. Tzviki Bar-Chai, head of the Hebron Hills Regional Council and head of operations for the fight against the pullout, called on his supporters to use „determination, diligence and strength, but not violence” to push through police and IDF checkpoints. Recent police estimates of the number of infiltrators in Gaza settlements stands at more than 2,000. Police Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi, speaking at a final pre-disengagement briefing Thursday, said police „will prevent infiltrators from reaching the settlements and sabotaging the disengagement. BPI-info