It is now a year since the State Investigation Commission dealing with the expulsion of Gaza's Jewish residents and the destruction of their communities completed its work. It is nearly 6 years to the expulsion itself. Despite the aggressive advertising campaign mounted by proponents of the expulsion, beginning with former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, that "there is a solution for every settler", the reality has made a mockery out of the slogan. Most residents are still in temporary housing and many have not been able to resume their former livelihood.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin addressing the interparty Knesset lobby fighting for the rights of the expellees slammed the government's efforts in solving the problem. "Quite a few bureaucratic obstacles have remained and they haven't been handled, including the acute problem of building permanent houses which has not yet begun."

Speaking to the 15 member lobby, Rivlin disparaged  the prospects that a solution will emerge from the government. "To our sorrow it appears that in 2012 as well this is not going to happen if private Knesset Member legislation is not promoted as a supplementary measure to government decisions." The Knesset Speaker's pessimism about government action was rooted in the fact that "government initiative is subject to pressures and changing circumstances, and therefore this [private legislation] is the only way to cause the government to stick to its commitments; this was the case in the past and this is how we must conduct ourselves presently."

Doron Ben Shlomi, the representative of the expelled residents, said that while some progress was discernible it was necessary to wind up all the legislative measures prior to the Knesset going out on its holiday recess. "To our regret, all the important topics for legislation are performed in the last moments of the Knesset annual session, at the very last minute before its conclusion."