The Gaza pullout through the eyes of 12-year-olds

Even at 12, Daniel Rotenstein has a lot at stake in today's Knesset vote on Ariel Sharon's plan that could dismantle his hometown of 500 Israeli settler families in the Gaza Strip.

He's eager to leave. It's not just because there are Palestinian mortars falling near his house. It's his Israeli neighbors, too. He has become the target of a school bully angry that Daniel's father will accept compensation and leave Gaza.

But his classmate Nati Goldstein, also 12, is as adamant about staying. Neve Dekalim, their settlement, is "the best place on earth," he says. He wants to see the disengagement plan overturned.

While school is canceled today for Nati and Daniel and tens of thousands of other settler children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it's not a day of celebration. Many of the children will travel to Jerusalem to protest outside the Knesset as it votes on Mr. Sharon's withdrawal plans, a step that means the dismantling of 21 settlements in Gaza. Another four are to be dismantled in the northern West Bank.

Settlement leaders say children make their case well.

They are distributing a video that features settler children who were injured in Palestinian attacks.

For Daniel and Nati a yes vote by the Knesset, which is expected, could doom Neve Dekalim, the largest Gaza settlement, where the two boys live.

Neve Dekalim was built in 1983 and consists of red-roofed villas with gardens and palm tree-lined, shady streets that give it the feel of a Mediterranean resort village. But the signs of possible extinction are now obvious. Hanging from the local council building is a defiant banner that reads: "We are on the map and will remain on the map."

The Khan Yunis refugee camp is nearby, but with a for-Israelis-only road network linking the settlement to Israel, Palestinian Gaza and its 1.3 million inhabitants are generally out of sight. In a major army operation yesterday just hours before the start of the Knesset debate, 13 Palestinians were killed as Israeli troops surged into the Khan Yunis camp in a raid the army said was sparked by Palestinian mortar attacks.

The Associated Press reported that the Palestinian fatalities from the operation included members of the Palestinian security forces and an 11-year-old boy. An army official said two soldiers were wounded.

Sharon is expected to win the Knesset vote with the support of the opposition Labor Party. But the real battle will be over how big a majority he will receive. If it's thin, that will boost the case of those insisting on a national referendum over the pullout plan.

During his speech in the Knesset yesterday, Sharon dismissed criticism of his plan. "It is essential to do this even with all the suffering it causes. This will strengthen Israel's hold on area's vital to our existence and be welcomed near and far."

Daniel's family is counting on Sharon. "The main thing is that the disengagement should pass in the Knesset and they should give enough compensation for everyone to build a new life elsewhere," says his father, Meir Rotenstein.

In recent months, Daniel, already living in fear of the mortar attacks, has also had to pay for the perceived sins of his father, who broke ranks with other settlers and announced he wanted to leave Neve Dekalim in exchange for compensation.

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