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Tzemach Yehudah Richter

Israel Withdrew From Gaza In 2005 – Hamas Turned It Into Another Rocket Launching Pad

 

בסייד

The Israeli disengagement from Gaza (Hebrew: תוכנית ההתנתקות‎, Tokhnit HaHitnatkut) was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of the settlers and Israeli army from inside the Gaza Strip.

The disengagement was proposed in 2003 by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government in June 2004, and approved by the Knesset in February 2005 as the Disengagement Plan Implementation Law.[1] It was implemented in August 2005 and completed in September 2005. The settlers who refused to accept government compensation packages and voluntarily vacate their homes prior to the 15 August 2005 deadline were evicted by Israeli security forces over a period of several days.[2] The eviction of all residents, demolition of the residential buildings and evacuation of associated security personnel from the Gaza Strip was completed by 12 September 2005.[3] The eviction and dismantlement of the four settlements in the northern West Bank was completed ten days later. 8,000 Jewish settlers from the 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip were relocated. The settlers received an average of more than US$200,000 in compensation per family.[4]

The United Nations, international human rights organizations and many legal scholars regard the Gaza Strip to still be under military occupation by Israel.[5] This is disputed by Israel and other legal scholars.[6] Gaza remains dependent on Israel for its water, electricity, telecommunications, and other utilities.[5][7]

Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen led the IDF 36th Division that was responsible for the disengagement. He personally opposed leaving Gaza, but carried out his assignment as a commanding officer.

“In a way, I now see the disengagement from Gaza as sort of a miracle from heaven,” Hacohen told JNS nearly two years ago. “Just imagine if Hamas would have remained quiet for several years after the disengagement; there would have been a consensus in Israel to disengage from Judea and Samaria. No one in his right mind in Israel will now agree to a disengagement from Judea and Samaria except for a few left-wing radicals.”

And with the latest attack by Hamas on Israel, this proves Hacohen’s statement applies even today.

It Was A Beautiful Stretch Of Land That Produced A Livelihood For Arabs And Israelis

Most residents owned greenhouses which allowed for the export of vegetables. Before the residents came, it was a desert. Once they were forced to leave it once again became a wasteland and a terrorist’s dream.

The fact was the Arabs of Gaza were employed by the Jewish farmers and had an income to provide for their Arab families and relatives. Those Arab workers did not want their Jewish employers to leave.

In Future – Israel Must Never Give Back Any Land To Hamas

The shock seeing those thousands of rockets being aimed straight at us is bad enough. But the reality is that the land mentioned above where Israelis once lived was most probably also used to fire those rockets into Israel.

It should be quite clear that Hamas is to blame for the military occupation in Gaza today, not Israel. The Palestinians who want peace with Israel are the true victims. Until Hamas is brought down by the Palestinian people or some other force, there can be no true peace. Many times dictatorships have risen only to come crashing down and that would be the ideal solution to end the fighting which has taken place between Israel and Hamas, since this terrorist organization was founded.

I Will Repeat A Key Sentence From JFK’s Cuban Missile Crises Speech Appearing In My Previous Blog-

 Many times in the past, the Cuban people have risen to throw out tyrants who destroyed their liberty. 

Very simply put, if the Hamas leadership is overthrown, then those Palestinians wanting to make a genuine peace with Israel will be free to do so.

That will force the radical left wing in US Congress to find something else to talk about. Perhaps starting to focus on the well-being of the voters in their district would be the best place to begin.

About the Author
Born and raised in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park. Married to a South African, we lived in Johannesburg from 1979 to 1996. Made Aliyah with our seven children on Parshat Lech Lecha. BSB Accounting Degree from the University of Minnesota. Investment Portfolio Manager /Fundamental And Technical Analyst. Wrote in-depth research on companies, markets, commodities for leading financial publications. Served in the US Army Reserves Semi Retired spending quality time with my wife, children, grandchildren and attend Kollel while analyzing current events as they relate to Torah and Mitzvahs.
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