They were full of assurances. Leave Gaza and it will be fine.
Twenty years ago this week, on August 15, 2005, the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Av in that year, Israel forces dismantled its Gaza communities, expelling over ten thousand Israeli residents from homes which they had built with dedication and hard work. Soon after, with fury, Gazans entered the vacant towns and destroyed its synagogues and the many businesses and greenhouses worth millions which had been left behind to help them in their nation-building. But nation-building was not on their agenda.
The forced evacuation of the Jewish communities of Gaza by the Israeli Government was preceded by voices urging 'disengagement'. They were accompanied by assurances that the withdrawal from Gaza would bring calm to the area, and that the firing of rockets that had so often pounded Israeli communities in and near Gaza would cease. But they overlooked what was clear to the hundreds of thousands of Israelis lining the streets in protest against the disengagement - that such a move would be a prelude to increased terrorism.
One year earlier, on October 5, 2004, during the IDF operation “Days of Repentance” in Gaza which sought to end the rockets raining in upon nearby communities, MP Zehava Gordon of the radical left Meretz party suggested a timetable for the withdrawal of Israel’s presence from Gaza. Shensurmised it would reduce the Palestinian Arab motive for carrying out acts of terror.
Then Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, stated that “once Israel withdraws from Gaza altogether, it would be able to create a deterrent balance.” He (naively?) reasoned that, “By withdrawing from Gaza and ending the occupation there, Israel will regain the higher moral ground. If Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israeli civilians, Israel will be able to respond even more powerfully than it has, with the support of the international community.”
The administration of President George W Bush, which placed pressure upon Israel to withdraw from Gaza, weighed in stressing that terror from Gaza would be reduced with an Israeli withdrawal. On May 20th, 2004, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that “there is a considerable amount of conflict and friction that would be reduced by an Israeli disengagement along the lines of the ones we discussed.”
James Cunningham, the deputy U.S. rep to the United Nations added that, “These events (attacks by terrorists with Israeli responses) in fact serve as a grim reminder of the wisdom of Israel disengaging from Gaza.”
In 2006, following the disengagement from Gaza, the newest Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, was entrusted to deal with the rocket attacks from Gaza. According to Olmert on a trip to southern Israel, referring to alleged efforts by the Palestinian Authority to stop “renegade” rocket crews, “we will evince the necessary restraints and patience, certainly in the coming days” The PA would stop rockets and Israel in turn would stop IDF incursions into Gaza. Sure.
The words, the talking, were all for naught.
After Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza:
- Rocket firings on Israeli communities in the Gaza envelope continued.
- Hundreds of miles of terror tunnels continued to be constructed with the financial help of international aid.
- Terrorist attacks from Gaza continued.
- Civilian casualties near the Gaza border mounted.
- Israeli soldiers continued to fall in operations to prevent terror from Gaza.
- International mainstream media outlets like the BBC continued to manufacture false narratives fed to them by Hamas, giving further incentive to the terrorists.
- UNWRA schools and summer camps in Gaza, basically Hamas-run, continued to teach hate and train youth for Jihad.
Then Hamas carried out atrocities of October 7.
Today, some western nations, caving to pressure of their Muslim populations and woke voters, are lining up to offer recognition of a Palestinian State. No doubt, voices around the world will be heard offering words declaring that this is the solution. But in reality they are offering support to an entity that would perpetuate more terror and destruction if they were enabled.
What’s truly assured? When your enemy seeks your demise based upon an ideology bent on Jihad, he will act towards that end. When they preach destruction, they mean it. Take those words seriously.
Larry Domnitch is the author of The Impact of World War One on the Jewish People, Urim Publications. He lives in Efrat.