Settlement leader warns Netanyahu: Don’t abandon us like ‘disgraceful’ Ariel Sharon plan

“Leaving isolated communities is like the disgraceful Ariel Sharon Disengagement plan that cut off parts of Samaria from Israel,” said the Shomron Regional Council chairman.

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forges ahead with his plans for extended sovereignty over Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, settlement leaders are becoming more concerned that some Jewish communities will be cut off and isolated within a future Palestinian state.

According to Samaria Regional Council leader Yossi Dagan, leaving the 20,000 Jewish residents living in these settlements to the mercy of the Palestinians will lead to the same disastrous consequences caused by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005.

“Leaving isolated communities is like the disgraceful Ariel Sharon disengagement plan that cut off parts of Samaria from Israel,” said Dagan said on Thursday. “It is inconceivable that a right-wing government will abandon Elon Moreh and other similar communities, surrounded by a terrorist state, under the decree of a construction freeze and inability to develop.”

On Thursday, the heads of the Yesha Council of Settlers proposed an annexation map that provides a way for the smaller communities to be included in the 30 percent limit required by the U.S. Mideast peace plan.

According to Ynet, the alternative map proposes connecting the 19 communities with the larger ones by expanding its borders within the annexed enclave.

Netanyahu has continuously argued that Israel faces a “historic opportunity” to apply sovereignty to key areas. The prime minister told his right-wing opposition on many occasions that he never agreed to a Palestinian state and that this is the first time the U.S. isn’t demanding something of Israel first.

AnnexationAriel SharonBenjamin NetanyahuSettlementsYESHA CouncilYossi Dagan