‘That sounds like ethnic cleansing’: CNN questions lead figure in Israel’s settler movement

High in the hills of the occupied West Bank. A flag flies in front of a Palestinian village. God is king, he tells the young

settler

s. He watches over this illegal outpost. Construction hasn't even started. But we are not welcome. That's why they ask us to leave. They don't want to talk to us. They said they've been here for about nine months. Across the landscape there are more signs of the struggle to assert Israeli control over Palestinian land. The Arabic names on the signs are crudely erased. Under international law, the agreement on the beating of Douglas is illegal.

But last February, the Israeli government officially recognized him, along with eight others, a move that the United States strongly opposed. Come on. We are here because God promised us this land, as real, Bekaa tells us. Now, these

settler

s have set their sights on a new prize, one that seemed completely impossible before October 7. Upon returning to Gaza, they applaud. That is the goal of the Zionist settler organization Nahla. One of more than a dozen groups now advocating for the reestablishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza. A recent promotional video even boasts that Gaza will become the next Riviera.

Don't sit on it. Don't live here. Daniella Weiss is the godmother of the

movement

and she has already begun recruiting members of Israel's community of 700,000 settlers. We are just reaching an agreement in the occupied West Bank and we are heading to a talk that Daniella Weiss is giving to a group of people who are potentially interested in resettling in Gaza. And I know it is. We are for the land of Israel and Ben-Gvir, she says. About 20 people gather in a family's living room. Farm in Miriam. It is evident that for many in this community there is a deep nostalgia for Gush Katif.

A block of 21 Israeli settlements that were forcibly evacuated by the IDF in 2005, when Israel left the Gaza Strip. So this is the vision of Gaza, she says. You see all the core groups in Sheba. A map has already been drawn up in which six groups claim different parts of the enclaves. So they've been handing out these little pamphlets that say the people of Israel are coming home. And then below. A call to return to the Gaza settlements, to Florida. One of the organizers tells the group that they have a representative who will fly to Florida to raise money.

Nicola is supported by several groups in the United States, including AFC Americans for a Safe Israel, which co-sponsored a recent webinar on the return to Gush Katif. Even as the Biden administration has cracked down on settlements in the West Bank, there are. Very strong support from very prominent people, yes, I would say rich people. Rich Jews in America. In the US, can you name any names? No I can not. No. Back at her house in the Cardamom settlement, Weiss tells us that she is already registered. 500 families. I even have names of people on my cell phone who say they will enlist me, that they will register me.

I want to join. I want to join the groups that are going to colonize Gaza. But I have to ask you because we are sitting here talking and listening. I'm listening. I hope you're listening. I think it's a reminder of the people who live here, but also the people who live in Gaza. What happens to them in this vision of this new agreement with Jewish settlers, including in Gaza City? What I think about Gaza is that the Arabs of Gaza lost the right to be in Gaza on October 7. Yes, I hear the mosque. I heard that prayer things were different until October 7th.

No Arab speaks of more than 2 million Arabs. They won't stay there. We Jews will be in Gaza. That

sounds

like

ethnic

cleansing

. The Arabs want to annihilate the State of Israel. Then you can call them monsters. You can call them Jewish

cleansing

. We are not doing anything to them. They are doing it to us. I couldn't make it clearer when I said it myself as a person who is worried about settling the ground until October 7th. He had no plans to return to Gaza. It's clear that I'm not interested in cleanliness. What is clear is that Weiss' views, traditionally considered extreme in Israel, have become more popular since October 7.

In late January, jubilant crowds filled an auditorium in Jerusalem for Israel's conference victory, calling for the resettlement of Gaza. A poll that month by the Jewish People's Policy Institute found that 26% of Israeli eyes advocate rebuilding the Gush Katif settlements once the war is over. Among supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government, that

figure

jumps to 51%. Several ministers were present at the conference, including the far-right Heritage Minister and Upper Eliyahu in a rare interview with Western media. He tells us that his political decisions are guided by the Torah. But he is there. Anything about Gush Katif here?

Yes. Yes. Because he is a Muslim. And the settlements in Gaza are necessary to avoid another October 7. A look at the language of the land says that wherever there are Jewish settlements, there will be more security. It does not mean that there will be absolute security, but there will be more security. Why would you advocate for something that many would say is illegal, immoral, not supported by the majority of Israelis, and very detrimental to Israel in terms of its international standing? Lamont closed in disbelief. Why do you think it is immoral to take land from someone who wants to kill me?

Why is it immoral to take away the land where my ancestors live, which I have even handed over to someone who massacres, rapes and murders me? What is more and more than that? Netanyahu has said Gaza resettlement is an unrealistic goal. And most Israelis. But that hasn't stopped dozens of IDF soldiers fighting there from posting videos calling for a return to Gush Katif's perspective. For many supporters of the settler

movement

, what was once a distant fantasy is now a fervent dream. Clarissa Ward, CNN, Occupied West Bank.