Avi Farhan, one of the leaders of the movement to stop the withdrawal from Sinai, addressed a story broadcast on Channel 10 about former Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
"There are stigmas and attempts by the left to say that Begin stopped functioning as a result of the Peace for Galilee war. As one who sat for weeks in front of the home of Menachem Begin, of blessed memory, together with my friends Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, Yossi Ben Ami, Azriel Bar and many others - We sat next to Begin's home for 63 days for a protest vigil including Yom Kippur - We saw Begin’s pain,” Farhan told Arutz Sheva.
"Begin's pain was about uprooting the settlers from Yamit, and not about the results of the Peace for Galilee war [...] Begin was deeply pained by the uprooting, and we saw it in his eyes.”
Yamit was a town in the northern Sinai Peninsula, and its residents were expelled after Israel and Egypt signed a 1979 "land for peace" agreement in which the Sinai Peninsula was traded for peaceful Egypt-Israel relations.
36 years after the uprooting, do you forgive Begin? “I don’t forgive. The uprooting was a mistake influenced by [Moshe] Dayan, [Ezer] Weizman and [Ariel] Sharon. The uprooting created a dangerous precedent for the uprooting of settlers from their homes, and that’s how the uprooting of Gush Katif and northern Samaria were created. But to Begin’s credit, it will be said even in hindsight, that Begin rehabilitated and cared for the evictees of Yamit and Sinai fairly, honesty, with speed and with legislation.”
“He quickly built the towns of Ein Habesor, Netiv Ha'asara and the kibbutzim Cholit and Sufa. I cannot say this about Sharon, Olmert or Netanyahu. We still have 200 families from Gush Katif who are refugees in our country. "
In conclusion, Farhan says, "I hope that the lesson is learned. We must not uproot settlers and communities in any political arrangement that will be."