WRAP PM warns Israel may face 'civil war', reax

(12 Sep 2004) 1. Exterior of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office 2. Sharon walking arriving for meeting surrounded by security 3. Israeli Defence minister, Shaul Mofaz arriving 4. Foreign minister Silvan Shalom arriving 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tommy Lapid, Israeli Justice Minister: "We understand people who object to the programme, that the government is trying to further as far as withdrawal from Gaza is concerned, but we will not agree to the type of incitement for criminal behaviour against those who are responsible for the conduct of this country" 6. Sharon seated in cabinet meeting 7. SOUNDBITE: (Hebrew) Ariel Sharon, Israeli Prime Minister: "In recent days we are witness to the most grave incitement and i would say, calls that are actually directed towards a civil war. I view this with utmost gravity and of course think that the same threats against army officers and people of the security establishment is the most grave and unprecedented trend. I say leave the army out of the matter. We can't involve them, to incite against them, to threaten them. I want to turn here to the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Public Security and each one of you because there are not enough voices being heard among the Cabinet on this subject. And I call on you, those who are responsible for the security, to take all necessary measures and even those who are not directly responsible, please make your voices heard on this matter. Take the army and the security forces out of this ugly game. " 8. Wide shot cabinet 9. Establisher of settler spokesman Josh Hasten 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Josh Hasten, settler spokesman: "Like I mentioned before, we don't believe in any forms of violence and we discourage any forms of violence between Jews and IDF (Israeli Defence Force) soldiers. At no point is a Jew to strike an IDF soldier. Some of our own residents are in the elite units of the IDF, this is our army and we are totally opposed to any violence between Jews and soldiers. In regard to Sharon's statements, we think that his statements are invalid and are blanket statements and cast an entire population in a bad light. If Sharon or any government official has specific proof of any type of incitement or violence, we would like to know about it and forward it. Again we are against any type of violence between Jews and other Jews, between Jews and soldiers and between Jews and elected officials. We are totally opposed to that, the Council is totally opposed to that." 11. Exterior settlers council office STORYLINE: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday warned of growing incitement in Israel, saying the heightened rhetoric against his Gaza withdrawal plan could lead to "civil war." Sharon issued the warning at the beginning of the weekly meeting of his Cabinet. Sharon faces significant hardline opposition to his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements next year, including from opponents within his own government. Security officials have warned recently that extremists are planning violent resistance to the proposed withdrawals. Last week, in an unprecedented step, a group of prominent hard-liners published a petition calling on soldiers to disobey orders to carry out the withdrawal. Sharon said the army should not be part of the political debate, and urged Cabinet members, including the defence and public security ministers, to speak out more against the threatened violence. Tens of thousands of opponents to the withdrawal plan were scheduled to demonstrate on Sunday night in Jerusalem. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...