Israeli far-right protesters marched in a rally Monday seeking to pressure the government to legitimize the illegal West Bank outpost of Evyatar. Photo by Atef Safadi/EPA-EFE
April 10 (UPI) -- Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined right-wing activists and other settlement supporters in a march to the illegal West Bank outpost of Evyatar Monday afternoon.
Supporters, who were supported by heavy security said they hope the march would put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to open the outpost. The march comes at a time of heightened violence and tensions between the government and the minority Palestinian population, threatening to enflame feelings further.
"We will not surrender to terrorism, not in Evyatar, not in Tel Aviv," Ben-Gvir said in a video message he made at the march, according to the Times of Israel. Knesset members Boaz Bismuth and Simcha Rothman also took part in the march.
Organizers said about 10,000 people were expected to join in the protests including senior cabinet officials like Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
"This place will be bustling with life -- Jews, upright, proud, lovers of the land and of the Torah, and just like Evyatar will be formalized, so to will [other] existing settlement [outposts] and new settlements, since this is our land," Smotrich said in a speech at the march.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank have long been a flashpoint to peace in the region. Last month, Jordan and various Palestinian groups protested a published report indicating that the Israeli government was planning to build hundreds of new housing units for settlers in the West Bank.
Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk told the Jerusalem Post the march to the vacated post at this time appeared to be Israel's desire to enflame the current Israel-Palestinian conflict, calling it an "ongoing wave of escalation."
The Israeli left-wing organization Yesh Din agreed, calling the march "provocative" and a "demonstration of Jewish supremacy, carried out to poke a finger in the eye of the Palestinians."
Some defense officials complained that the march Thursday diverted Israel Defense Forces from hot spot locations that had seen violence in recent days to protect demonstrators and public officials at the march.
