Skipping Tomorrow, Abandoning Yesterday

I almost laughed wryly when I read this.

I don't know how much say Ramon really has about how the government prioritizes.

But I must point out how ridiculous it is to talk about delaying compensation to settlers who voluntarily leave the West Bank, ahead of some shadowy future pullout, when, as far as I know, there are still Gaza settlers who have not yet received their full compensation, and whose promised homes have not yet been built.

You all know that I supported the Gaza pullout, at least in theory. But I have to say, regardless of whether I ideologically agree with a West Bank pullout or not, if I were an Israeli in the West Bank, and the government offered me some kind of deal to leave, my response right now would be "show me the money."

These people should be compensated. Most of them moved to Gaza and the West Bank under perfectly legal (from Israel's standpoint, at the very least) circumstances. They are not criminals. Despite the few crackpots you see on the news, the vast majority of "settlers" are decent people who have invested time and money into their homes, and there is no reason that they shouldn't recoup some of their losses. And the government should be timely in giving them what they need to set up somewhere else.

But, this is Israel, where the motto is "coulda, shoulda, woulda."