Israeli soldiers refuse evacuation

NEGOHOT, Israel, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Members of the Israel army refused to take part in evacuating Israelis from West Bank settlements and two soldiers were disciplined, officials said.

The incident occurred in the West Bank settlement of Negohot almost a month after soldiers from the Shimshon Battalion waved banners with a similar message during their graduation ceremony in Jerusalem, Haaretz reported Monday. Two soldiers were removed from their brigade and sentenced to 20 days in military prison after the incident.

Yariv Oppenheimer, the leader of the anti-settlement Peace Now movement, said some settler leaders were prompting a rebellion within the Israeli military and endangering Israeli society.

"Right-wing leaders and all government parties must speak out against this phenomenon before the army loses control of its soldiers," Oppenheimer said.

One Israeli in a nearby settlement accused the Israeli government of enforcing building laws in a selective and racist manner, the Jerusalem Post reported.

"People are forced to build on their own because one cannot get a building permit nowadays due to political reasons. Only a mile from here you can a see an illegal Arab structure that I, as an IDF officer, together with a Civil Administration official, personally served its owners with a demolition order 10 years ago. But it is still there 10 years later while houses of Jews are demolished," Assaf Freed said.

The rightist group, Homesh First praised the punished soldiers.