The Save the Land (SOS) of Israel organization has maintained that Uri Bar-Lev's being dismissed from the police department is Divine punishment for commanding the expulsion of Jews from their homes three years ago. Anti-nationalist politicians praised Bar-Lev for his tactics after being urged by then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who told the police, "You know what you have to do, so do it."
The police arrested hundreds of demonstrators and used illegal methods, such as waiting in ambulances for protestors and working without nametags. Several charges of police brutality have been brought to the courts
SOS said Bar-Lev, who may appeal his dismissal to the courts, "helped establish the Hamas state in Gaza…and joins Sharon, [former IDF Chief of Staff Dan] Halutz" and other public figures who have lost their stature and jobs and good health following the expulsion.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, after having praised Bar-Lev on a Friday television news program and saying he would not allow him to be fired by the police commissioner, reversed his stand on Sunday and backed his dismissal, maintaining that his about-face has made him the target of media and of political opponents.
Dichter is a candidate in the Kadima party leadership campaign. He is running far behind the two front-runners, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz (Kadima).