IDF Major General (Res.) Gershon Hacohen, who commanded the expulsion of Gaza's Jews, spoke with journalist Nechama Duweck on Army Radio on the 12th anniversary of the "Disengagement Plan" in which over eight thousand Jews were expelled from their homes.
"The disengagement was a strategic laboratory experiment, one which worsened the security situation," admitted Hacohen.
Hacohen called for lessons to be drawn from the failed plan and noted that a similar withdrawal from Judea and Samaria was as dangerous as the withdrawal from Gush Katif.
He said that the withdrawal not only did not improve Israel's security situation but worsened it, and not only did it not benefit Israel internationally, the withdrawal entangled the Jewish State in three Gaza Strip IDF operations.
Hacohen was asked whether in retrospect he would refuse such an order and answered that he opposes refusal because insubordination means an attack on the hegemony of the IDF over its soldiers. Despite the pain, he reminded the interviewer that the IDF "is a mechanism for protecting our existence" and suggested instead internalizing that uprooting Jews is a "catastrophe".
