Opinion
Regretting the Gaza pullout
Elyakim Haetzni
Published: 29.06.07, 20:58
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19 Talkbacks for this article
1. Excellent column - Lots to think about.
Kevin G ,   Oregon, USA   (06.29.07)
This has been a point made by many who are called "right-wing nuts", or racists, or worse. We were just pointing out the obvious. There is still time to backtrack from the road to destruction of Israel. There is still time to hold on to Golan and the WB and even to take back Gaza. Enough with self-deception! Thank you Elyakim for making this report known to Ynet readers.
2. total waste of time...
tom ,   toronto, canada   (06.30.07)
publishing such material here is not going to do any good; it needs to be on the israeli political agenda, and part of israel's public relations campaign abroad. if israel's concessions, whether oslo, or the retreat from lebanon or the evacuation of gaza did not result in arab reciprocation, but rather in increasingly emboldened attacks, then the logical conclusion is that the arabs do not want peace, but have simply been bargaining in bad faith. and in that case, it will be up to the idf to act in the best interests of israel, and disable the attacking forces as quickly and effectively as they can.
3. The tragedy is that Bush and Olmert know all this very well
Debbie ,   Seattle   (06.30.07)
yet they continue with their Roadmap as if just wanting things to be in a certain way, would make them so. Why is it that the people of Israel are not speaking at all? They don't need new elections to demonstrate, to demand the government to change course.
4. At least they're honest enough to admit they were wrong
Mark ,   USA   (06.30.07)
Not Olmert, though. He's plunges right ahead, regardless of what anyone says. Can't wait to surrender the Golan, that man. There will be more expulsions in the future.
5. Typical garbage! It is water under the bridge now!
Frank ,   USA   (06.30.07)
It was stupid and tragic to give up the Jewish land of Gaza! What was accomplished? Nothing good!
6. Regretting the Gaza Pullout Offers Tikvah l'Tovah
Naomi Phillips ,   Las Vegas U.S.A.   (06.30.07)
My mother who was a Holocaust survivor, may she rest in peace, always said "where there is life, there is hope." Now is the time for the"Fourth Estate" to unceasingly and ardently demand injunctive relief from any further "disengagements, so called negotiated settlements, financial & military disbursements to Palestinians of any stripe," until this inept, pandering, corrupt government ceases to exist. New Elections are pivotal now!
7. To Debbie: Same Old Trap
Dave Levy ,   Burbank. USA   (06.30.07)
Look, 20-20 is easy. I thought the disengagement was correct..it would bring the sides closer to peace and Israel's PR would improve significantly. I argued vociferously with "oranges" here in the States. I still think Jews and Arabs cannot and should not live together where possible. The mistake: taking the 5,000 IDF out of the Strip, NOT,the settlers. Sooner or later, Israel will have to relinqusih complete control to the Palestinian-Arabs..time is not on Israel's side. Or as Iran says, "Whe they have nuclear power, everything will change". I agree. Israel is caught between the Med. and Jordan. Even Abba Eban admitted that. Bibi, Olmert, Peres, Beilin, Barak..doesn't really matter. The Arabs control the show in the main. Tragic yes, but logical. 300 vs 5.4m..Makes sense. Look at Israel compared to the Sudan, or Egypt, or Libya or even Jordan..it's just too small..nukes or no. Maybe another 2m in Israel would help..I don't know?
8. Dave Levy, you are clueless.
Ari   (06.30.07)
Just completely clueless.
9. #7 - Dave - Why such a pessimistic attitude?
Debbie ,   Seattle   (06.30.07)
So much can be done. But one needs determination and passion. Apathy is the worst enemy of Israelis. Not the zillions of enemies around, but their own defeatist attitude. Think of other issues, such as environmentalism. Their principles were considered ridiculous in the past, but today just about everyone is pro-environment. Or in the case of the US, the end to racial segregation. It took a lot of struggle and it was even harder for this society to accept mixed couples, for example, than it would be for the world to accept Greater Israel. But look how far we've gone these days. All you need is to persuade the public with facts and higher principles, and be relentless in your determination. You need a good PR campaign (Israel has none). You need key allies. Engage the support of celebrities. Produce films that portray the reality of Israel today.... Press the Americans why it's in their interest to support a strong Israel. There is so much that could be done to fight against the PR campaign that the Arabs have so successfuly managed so far. Regarding Gush Katif, why soldiers but not residents? That's wouldn't have been a country. It would have been construed as pure foreign occupation. Gaza is Jewish soil. No different than Tel Aviv. Jews had the right to live there. Last: the nukes. What Israel needs is nuclear subs. With this bumbling government (and no better PM on the horizon), I truly fear a surprise attack that would overwhelm Israel leaving it too confused to react. But with a fleet of nuclear subs, the chances for self-defense would be increased by several orders of magnitude. The US wouldn't be in favor, I suppose. The pro-Arab USA that is arming the Saudis, the Egyptians, and even the terrorists in the PA would, as usual, favor its Arab friends. They've got the oil after all, and intimate connections with Bush, Cheney and Rice. But all that CAN be changed.
10. AND STILL OLMERT ANOUNCES THAT HE WANTS TO LEAVE SAMARIA AND
David ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (06.30.07)
Judea. So, it is about retaining power. The world has had enough of the Jewish experiment of having our own country. Now they must tear it down and as the quislings in the concentration camps, helping the nazis, so will Olmert and all that the rest, for their puppet masters, go down the road to destruction that these plans lead to. We must change leaders and direction before disaster strikes.
11. Elyakim Thanks fot this beautiful column
gabriela ben ari   (07.01.07)
12. #10 - If dislodging Olmert from power
Judy Y ,   Los Angeles   (07.01.07)
proves to be too difficult, you need to demand a referendum. No land should be surrendered, but if they still insist, no land should be surrendered without a referendum. Unfortunately it seems that only feminist issues bring out the crowds these days.... Perhaps there is a message there. Israelis are not showing how much they love their land, and the world notices it. It's not enough to say it they love it. They need to shout it on massive demonstrations and refuse to allow the politicians to give it up.
13. The Gaza withdrawal could have been the right step
realist   (07.01.07)
if it had been a part of a comprehensive peace settlement or comprehensive peace efforts. However, the withdrawal was an isolated act and that's why it blew up in your face. It was like hopping on a bicycle and then stopping pedalling. There are many people, both among the Arabs and Jews, who will make sure that half-hearted attempts at peace will blow up in your face. That's what happened after the withdrawal from Gaza and also during the Oslo period of interim arrangements, foot-dragging and general unwillingness to resolve the core issues of the conflict.
14. Gaza must be retaken
Canadian Otter   (07.01.07)
What Israel needs is to reach an agreement with Egypt, with lots of support from the US (financial mainly), to get Egypt to accept the "good Gazans", those who have no strong link to the gangs running the place. There are over a million people in Gaza and there must be a majority who'd rather get out of that place for good to stay away from the conflict. What's left, that's a problem. Maybe harder measures could be implemented regarding access to services, so as to get the gangs to assemble in one place and then maintain them there until the world decides what to do with them. If no alternative is found, they could remain there until old age. And they would be expected to behave. Next, Israel should repopulate Gaza. This solves everybody's problem. The Gazans who'd rather have peace get to live normal lives; Israelis get Gaza back and the Gush Katif refugees go back home; the criminal gangs are isolated and neutralized. Not easy, but easier than years or centuries of this same old conflict.
15. #13 Realist - I'm all for peace
Jake T ,   Alaska   (07.01.07)
but not at the expense of Jewish land. Sure, go ahead and sign peace agreements with Syria, with the Palestinians, with whoever wants to promise not to attack Israel. But don't give them ANY Jewish land. We all know that a change of Arab Palestinian government would mean the repudiation of any treaty signed by Abbas. Hamas has already said it. They will NOT recognize any agreement signed by illegitimate governments, meaning both the Israeli and the Fatah governments. Once an agreement is broken, how do you get your land back?
16. #15 Not at the expense of Jewish land
realist   (07.01.07)
Are you kidding? That's like Hamas saying "We're all for peace -- but not at the expense of Muslim land." Now that Hamas is in power in Gaza things are more difficult, that's for sure, but with your attitude you wouldn't be able to make peace even with saints. This attitude failed to make peace BEFORE Hamas came to power and this attitude is liable to facilitate the spreading of Al Kaida in the Palestinian territories. There won't be peace until Jews and Arabs learn to SHARE the territory in which they happen to live together. Fortunately, there is still Abbas, with whom Israel can negotiate, and there is the Arab League. Hamas won't be able to resist for long if a comprehensive peace solution is agreed with Fatah AND with the Arab League and presented to the Palestinian population. You ask what if the Arabs don't keep the agreement after Israel withdraws. First, there will be security arrangements for sure, Palestinian state will have no army, Golan Heights will be demilitarized - that's what Arafat and Syria already agreed to in past negotiations. Second, a successful, satisfactory CONCLUSION of the conflict and resolution of the basic needs of both sides (as opposed to Oslo-like foot-dragging, postponing final status negotiations while the settlements grew and multiplied at increasing pace) will create a more stable situation, one which the majority on both sides will be interested to maintain. And if the Arabs choose war again then there will be war. It is Israel's moral responsibility to take the calculated risk for peace, because it cannot continue indefinitely to subjugate another population.
17. Sarid
Michael ,   Miami,USA   (07.01.07)
Your anaysis was quite right. However, We will never see the true Oslo Criminals like Sarid apologize or admit the dangerousness of their leftist thinking. The arrogance of leftist self-haters knows no bounds. Sarid will continue telling us that Israel is at fault and any proud Zionist or Jew are still public enemy #1.
18. Let's be objective about Gaza
Jonathan and Mollie ,   Pennsylvania   (07.02.07)
Prior to the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, no one really knew how the Palestinians and Europeans would react. While the evauation of Lebanon was destructive to Israel in so many ways, proponents of evacuation claimed that Gaza was different. Proponents envisioned Gaza as a laboratory where Palestinians would finally gain control of a contiguous piece of land and forced to establish a functioning government. Diaspora Jews even bought the greenhouses from Jewish settlers and turned them over to Palestinians with the hope that the greenhouses would be a catalyst for the beginning of a Palestinian agricultural industry. Israeli proponents of the Gaza evacuation not only promised a newer and more easily defendable Israel, but also launched a campaign to demonize the opponents of withdrawal. Netanyahu and other rightists were portrayed as warmongers and alarmists. The warnings of the withdrawal opponents that gaza would turn into a terrorist state were ridiculed. And at that time nobody knew who was right. This is no longer the case. Unilateral withdrawal from Gaza has turned into a disaster as rockets are daily fired from Gaza into Israeli towns and have terrorized and killed Israeli residents. European antisemitism has been so strong that Israel is still blamed no matter what Israel does. To European antisemites, both acknowledged and those in denial, occupation remains the mantra that sees Israel as the aggressor. When someone points out that there is no longer an occupation in Gaza, Europeans don't even take time to catch a breath and continue to accuse Israel of provoking Palestinans to fire rockets at Israeli women and children because of the brutal occupation. If there were real peace in exchange for the West Bank and Gaza, most Israelis would agree to withdrawal. The experence in Gaza shows that there is no hope for peace with the Palestinians no matter what Israel offers and therefore Israel has to remain strong and retain strategic depth and not expel more Jewish settlers.
19. Why would anyone regret victory?
daniel ,   amsterdam   (07.02.07)
The retreat from Gaza brought an end to the Palestinian National movement. Now that they are split, the notion of a Palestinian people is much harder to sell. Sharon sacrificed Gaza, saved Jerusalem and defeated Palestinian Nationalism. Why would we regret that? Because of the fighting in Gaza? Because of the Palestinian civil war? We lost Gaza, but we finally won the war. What a shame the people of Israel havn't reckognized this.
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