Three senior IDF reserve officers have petitioned the High Court of Justice for a ruling to prevent IDF or police involvement in the implementation of the proposed Gaza withdrawal Plan.

The plan, known as disengagement, calls for withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria, the eviction of local Jewish citizens from their homes, and the abandonment of the area to the Palestinian Authority.

The officers claim in their petition that using the IDF or the police to this end violates the standing orders of the security forces. They further claim the government is forbidden from using the military or police to implement policies or political programs, such as the disengagement proposal, that are not directly related to the defense of the State of Israel.

The three reserve officers are Lt.-Gen. David Hagoel, former commander of IDF forces in Judea and Samaria; Col. Gideon Elshar, chief of staff of the Sharon reserve division during the Yom Kippur War; and combat navigator Col. Yehoar Gal.

It was reported earlier this week that a Border Guard police base near Beit Horon has been turned into an expulsion training school. Thousands of Border Guardsmen are being trained there to carry out the mission of removing the close to 9,000 Jews from their homes in the areas in question. The training course includes breaking into houses and dealing with die-hard resisters. No fewer than 18,000 policemen are to take the course in the coming months.

In another IDF-disengagement-Supreme Court item, the reserve officers of the IDF Binyamin Regional Command who were essentially kicked out of the army last month have appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The officers were thrown out after they wrote a letter stating that the disengagement orders would be "blatantly illegal," and that they would have great difficulty implementing them. (IsraelNationalNews © 02/03/05)