Civil war in Israel!?

This is the ugly specter hovering above the Jewish Homeland ever since the government announced its plan to evacuate Jewish settlers from their homes in the areas being returned to the Palestinians.

With all due empathy with the suffering of Jews who are compelled to abandon the homes and communities they built as pioneers on behalf of an Israeli government, the thought of Jew fighting Jew is totally unacceptable. The police and army are doing their utmost to carry out this evacuation in the most sensitive way, and it is hoped that the settlers will not resort to the violence which some extremists in their ranks are calling for.

This weeks Torah portion reminds us of the bitter fruits of unrelenting dissension. Korach and his company were swallowed up by the earth because they refused to meet with Moshe in an effort to achieve conciliation. Both sides in this sad conflict between the government and the settlers will hopefully keep up the lines of communication to prevent the tragedy of a civil war and to guarantee a united Israel forever.