Sharon was a warrior. He achieved monumental success and saved many Israeli lives. He was a brilliant strategist who made bold moves in the Sinai and other places. Sadly, however, he also made some tragic mistakes which ultimately caused innocent people to pay the ultimate price. That is a part of his legacy. But the most important acts of his very public life were for peace and security.

Prime Minister Sharon took great risks in withdrawing from Gaza. A Likudnik to the core, it cost him many of his strongest and longest serving supporters. Many predicted it would lead to the demise of Israel.

Before and during the 2005 withdrawal I was leading The Israel Project. Our polls and focus groups showed that Israel was being blamed for the violence against its citizens. People around the world were saying that the terrorism against innocent Israeli civilians was justified because of “the occupation.”

When we learned of the plans for the withdrawal, we did public opinion research, and saw that it was a vital opportunity for the world to know that Israel was making painful sacrifices in hopes of peace. It would help shape global understanding of the facts. Finally, they would understand the real “matzav” (situation). Still, PM Sharon and the IDF weren’t eager to open Gaza to reporters as they saw it as a needless security risk. Pollster Stan Greenberg PhD and I spent month working to convince the Prime Minister’s team and the IDF to open up the process to reporters. They were doing the withdrawal for reasons of security and peace, not PR. Ultimately, the Israeli government agreed to open the process to press.

After all that however, the reporters did not want to come to Gaza because they did not believe that Prime Minister Sharon would actually go through with it! Almost always thinking the worst of Israel and its “hardline Prime Minister”, the media thought it was a trick — a bait and switch. Additionally, they had spent their travel budgets covering a Pope’s funeral and summer Olympics. They didn’t want to spend scarce dollars and their typical vacation period of August on a farce. Thus, we spent months visiting reporters one-by-one to beg them to come and see the withdrawal with their own eyes. We sent them letters, postcards, emails and called them over and over to beg them to see the facts. It worked.

On August days during the withdrawal, when it got to be as hot as 117 degrees, we were in Gaza. Also there was Amb. Gideon Meir of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rannan Gissim of the Prime Minister’s Office, Ruth Yaron, Nachman Shai and Jacob Dallal of the IDF, and thousands of reporters. Until the last moments, few reporters believed Sharon would go through with it.

Under some trees we had a place we called “has-beer-a” (a play on the Hebrew word “hasbera” which literally means “to explain” but has come to mean “PR for Israel”) where reporters could get a free beer or soda and free wi-fi. They could meet with these Israeli officials, learn more facts, and get on the record quotes for their news stories. Then they could take a shuttle bus to watch the evacuations of settlers that were all happening because of the decisions of PM Sharon.

In Gaza we saw first hand the pain in the hearts and eyes of soldiers and settlers alike as more than 9000 Israelis had to give up their homes, farms, synagogues, schools and more to the Palestinians. Even the cemeteries had to be moved as they would have been desecrated after the exit of the Israelis.

More than 2000 reporters were with us to document the withdrawal. It was on page 1 of newspapers across the globe and on all the TV networks. Thankfully, though tensions were extremely high, no one got physically hurt in the process. The PR campaign brought a lot more international support for Israel, but the price for the evacuation was extremely high.

The amount of goodwill towards the Palestinians at that time by the government of Israel and its supporters was huge. Philanthropists Mort Zuckerman and James Wolftson gave millions to buy greenhouses for the Palestinians in Gaza — who then destroyed them instead of using them to sustain their people. It was a heart breaking process as the Palestinians voted in Hamas, and Israel got rockets in return for giving up Gaza.

Ultimately Israel was forced to defend its citizens from even more rockets, and innocent Palestinians died as terrorists used them as human shields. A terrible tragedy for all sides. But still, Israel didn’t need to keep bases in Gaza, the rockets have now slowed, and Palestinians still have a chance to make peace work. Diplomats are still working overtime for a permanent peace.

Ariel Sharon made mistakes in his career. But in the end he formed Kadima, left the right, and made bold sacrifices for peace. Will his obit writers remember the facts? During the withdrawal:

• 100% of the Gaza Strip was evacuated and handed over to the Palestinians.
• 2300 square miles of the West Bank were evacuated. 3
• 21 Israeli settlements were uprooted in the Gaza Strip.2
• 4 Israeli settlements were uprooted in the West Bank. 2
• 48 graves in the Gush Katif Cemetery, including six graves of area residents murdered by terrorists, were uprooted. 4 5
• 9,000 is the approximate number of Israelis, including 1,700 Israeli families, that resided in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. All of them were moved out as part of the withdrawal. 4
• 38 synagogues were dismantled in the Gaza Strip. 6
• 5,000 school-age children   had to find new schools. 7
• 42 daycare centers were closed in the Gaza Strip. 6
• 36 kindergartens were closed in the Gaza Strip. 6
• 7 elementary schools were closed in the Gaza Strip. 6
• 3 high schools were closed in the Gaza Strip. 7
• 320 mobile homes, ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, served as temporary housing for settlers, with approximately 300 additional mobile homes to be ordered in the future. 7
• 45,000 Israeli soldiers and policemen participated in the Gaza withdrawal. 8
• $1.7 billion was the approximate cost to the Israeli government for the withdrawal initiative. 9
• 166 active Israeli farmers were moved out of Gaza. 10
• 800 cows, which comprised the second largest dairy farm in Israel, were moved out of Gush Katif. 11
• $120 million in flowers and produce exported annually from Gush Katif were lost. 12
• 1 zoo, the “Katifari,” that housed hundreds of animals was moved. 13
• 10,000 people employed in agriculture and related industries in Gush Katif, including 5,000 Palestinians, are in need of new employment. 12
• 60% of Israel’s cherry tomato exports came from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza extinguished this economic resource.  12
• 3.5 million square meters (almost 1,000 acres) of greenhouses were abandoned in Gaza. 12
• 70% of Israel’s organic produce was produced in Gaza. This was another economic resource that was lost. 12
• 60% of the herbs exported from Israel came from Gush Katif. 12
• 15% of Israel’s agricultural exports originated in Gaza – exports that were lost following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. 12
• $360,000 was the approximate average compensation amount Israel expected to pay to relocate each family. 3
• $870 million was the approximate cost for Israel to facilitate the resettlement of former West Bank and Gaza residents elsewhere in the country. 3
• $500 million was the amount of money Israel’s security establishment spent in order to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities. 3

AFTER THE WITHDRAWAL:

• 430,000 West Bank Palestinians are able to move freely within and between Palestinian controlled areas. 3
• 0 Israelis, dead or alive, remained in Gaza. 2
• 1.2 million Arabs remained full and legal citizens of Israel. All Israeli citizens – Christians, Muslims, and Jews – have freedom of speech, religion, press, and the right to vote.  14
• 1.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, many of them in Palestinian Authority-controlled refugee camps, live under their own leaders. 3
• 820,000 Jewish refugees, forced to flee without their belongings from Arab countries between 1947 and 1949, still have no compensation for their losses from Arab governments. 15
• 650,000 Arab refugees who left Israel between 1947 and 1949 still need Palestinian leaders who will end terrorism and the culture of hate. 15
• Israel’s withdrawal from four northern West Bank settlements created an area more than twice the size of Gaza’s 140 square miles under Palestinian control and devoid of any Israeli presence. 3

SOURCES:

1. Kescher, Doron, Israeli Insider “Journalistic Shields,” June 21, 2004.
2. Israeli Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan, June 6, 2004
3.  “Israel’s Disengagement Plan,” American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Feb. 9, 2005
4. “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005
5. Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, July 7, 2005
6. Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005
7. “Engaging Disengagement,” The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005
8. Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, “Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005
9. Klein, Zeev, “Haber: HCJ ruling will raise disengagement cost to NIS 500m,” Globes: Israel’s Business Arena, June 5, 2005
10. Arrow, Minda Lee, “Gaza settler relocation: new progress, ongoing complications,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 15, 2005
11. Lazaroff, Tovah, “Gush Katif dairy farmer has sleepless nights over cow remo(o)val” Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2005
12. Stahl, Julie, “Gaza farmers say government has no plan for them,” Cybercast News Service, April 11, 2005
13. Ettinger, Yair, “Even the animals won’t leave Gaza early,” Haaretz newspaper, June 21, 2005
14. “Israel,” Freedom House, July 6, 2005
15. Radler, David, “Refugees forever?” Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2005