Settlers respond to Annapolis statements with new settlements

Settlers announce they will build three new outposts in West Bank to celebrate Hanukkah, Daniella Weiss: 'Olmert plans to herd us into Ghettos but we will break out with our spirit, the spirit of the Maccabis and build new communities'

The right-wing Ne’emanei Eretz Israel movement announced Thursday that it plans to establish three new outposts in the West Bank during Hanukkah and return to five outposts it had already created in Sukkot.

"The gravest thing about the Annapolis peace conference' is Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's barefaced talk of a Palestinian state. This is our answer to the prime minister's plan, which I believe must first break the spirit of the settlers before it can work, and that is why it will never be successful.

"He intends to herd us into a Ghetto but we will break out with our spirit, the spirit of the Maccabis and we will build new communities," said Daniella Weiss - former Kedumim council chairwoman and a central figure in the settler movement - of the plan.

"There are those who believe that if we work to strengthen the existing communities, we can save the movement. I call this a Diaspora mentality. If we huddle in Ghettos we will only supposedly be saving our lives. Therefore, to rid ourselves of this mentality, we must take to the open spaces. Instead of waiting in fear for the next evacuation, God forbid, it is far better to be building the next community. Anyplace in Israel where we do not reside in, is home to terrorists," said Weiss