Withdrawal from Gaza
Topic: Politics
We've been through a difficult time these last few weeks.
The dismantling of settlements and the subsequent withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the Gaza strip tears at the base of the Israeli society.
Some feared that the demonstrations by fundamentalist settlers and their effort to withstand the army's attempts at evacuating them from the Gaza strip, would lead to a civil war and bloodshed.
Eventually, things did not turn that way. The excellent preparation of the Army and the Police, with the help of psychologists turned out to be very successful. The wind was taken out of the sails of the protesters, and the "sensitive-though-assertive" attitude of the soldiers and police managed to curb violence. Except for some minor incidents no one was seriously hurt, and the whole eviction of 10,000 people was completed within a week, a third of the minimum time planned!!
After completion of the destruction of houses and buildings in the settlements, the Army will leave the Gaza strip in one month.
In spite of all the tension, the withdrawal was proof of the strength of Israel democracy and the ability to execute even the most difficult and contested decisions of the government.
I express my deepest hope that negotiations with the Palestinians will pick up and that not long from now Israel will withdraw also from the West Bank, a Palestinian State will be declared, and Israel and Palestine will live in peace side by side.