Retired General Gershon Hacohen, who commanded the eviction of thousands of Jews from Gaza in 2005 under then prime minister Ariel Sharon's Disengagement program, said on Tuesday, "The Disengagement was a strategic laboratory experiment. The incident worsened the security situation,"
Interviewed by Israel Defense Forces Radio to mark the 12th anniversary on the civil calendar, Hacohen said that not only did the unilateral withdrawal not improve Israel's situation internationally but led Israel into three military operations. He called for the lessons to be drawn from the failed plan and noted that a similar withdrawal from Judea and Samaria is as dangerous as the withdrawal from Gush Katif. Asked whether in retrospect he would refuse an order, he claimed that he opposed it because it was an attack on the IDF despite the pain, adding "this is a tool for protecting our existence" and suggested the internalizing the uprooting of Jews as a "catastrophe".