(IsraelNN.com) “We knew it fell out on that date from the very beginning,” Peres said, referring to the recently publicized fact that the forced expulsion of Jews from Gaza and the northern Shomron will take place during the three weeks leading up to the 9th of Av [Tisha B’Av]. That time period commemorates the destruction of the Holy Temple and a myriad of other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people.

A special ministerial “disengagement committee” is set to convene Tuesday to discuss pushing off the date of the expulsion, though Peres is calling for the plan’s date to be pushed up instead of postponed.

Disengagement Authority Director Yonatan Bassi told Israel Radio that he had advised Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to push off the implementation phase of the disengagement plan for three weeks, until August 15th, after the ninth of Av. His reason, he explained, was that during the mourning period, observant Jews refrain from moving to new homes and other actions that would be involved in the disengagement implementation.

The prime minister did not reject the request, hinting he may accept the delay. "We must do all we can to ease the residents' suffering," Sharon said.

Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, blasted such concerns, saying it is ridiculous to attempt to find an appropriate date for the total destruction of entire Jewish communities in the Land of Israel. Wallerstein added that, “perhaps the current time period is most appropriate, coinciding with the destruction of the Holy Temple.”