Israel security officials express fear that the political situation in the country may now acquire a violent character and flow into street battles.

That was provoked by the Israeli parliament’s decision to reject a bill to delay the country’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.

"We don’t intend to compromise in the battle," Pinchas Wallerstein, a settler leader told Israel Army Radio.
"The referendum passed away from the world yesterday," Maariv paper says. "Ariel Sharon’s road to the disengagement has been paved... the political struggle has ended."

"The militants who promised blood and fire can now be expected to go for the self-fortification option, wrapping their homes in barbed wire, stockpiling food and water, and maybe even digging deep trenches around their settlements," a commentary in Haaretz says.