Former Meretz Knesset Member Ran Cohen defended on Monday his warnings that rockets would strike Ashkelon if Israel did not carry out the “Disengagement” that expelled more than 9,000 Jews from Gaza.
“It would have been a lot worse if we had not left,” he said on Yaron Dekel’s “It’s All Talk” program on Voice of Israel government radio. Noting four years since the expulsion, Dekel replayed Cohen's speech in the Knesset, where he stated, “I say that if we do not leave, there is no doubt the Kassams will hit the center" of the country in less than two years if not one year.”
Aftermath of rocket attack in Ashkelon
Cohen said Monday, “I was partially wrong [but] I did not say they [rockets] would not hit if we did not leave Gaza. Responding to Dekel’s question if Meretz and its allies are using “rose-colored glasses” and not admitting the dangers to security caused by the expulsion, Cohen laid part of the blame on the Sharon government and the Israeli public, which he said lacked patience.
“We wanted a bilateral agreement,” Cohen said. “But we could not oppose a unilateral move because it is better [than nothing].” He also claimed that Gaza and Israel would be worse off if the expulsion had not taken place.
Dekel also replayed Sharon’s speech in which he said that the withdrawal would benefit Israel but that the PA must tear down the terrorist infrastructure. Immediately following the expulsion, terrorists in Gaza, which at the time was under the control of Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, bombarded Sderot with rockets and mortar shells.