Subscribe to our daily e-mail newsletter

E-mail:

Israel News Feed Or subscribe to our RSS feed | What is RSS?
Israel News from Jerusalem Newswire
Peace Process

Knesset chooses to abandon Gaza


By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
October 27, 2004

Thirty-seven years after reclaiming their biblical inheritance in Gaza, the democratic representatives of the Jewish state voted Tuesday evening to abandon the coastal strip.

Israel’s Knesset approved Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement" plan in its first official reading by a vote of 67 to 45, with seven abstentions.

But his victory was short-lived, and Sharon almost immediately faced the most serious threat of rebellion yet within his own Likud Party.

After having reluctantly voted in favor of the plan, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Limor Livnat issued an ultimatum to Sharon:agree to a national referendum on disengagement within 14 days, or accept their resignations.

They argued that without taking the plan to the people, Sharon’s initiative would cause a deadly rift in the nation. Netanyahu and Livnat said several other Likud ministers would also join the opposition if Sharon did not acquiesce.

Earlier in the week, aides close to Sharon said he preferred new elections to a referendum, fearing his plan would be rejected in a nation-wide poll.

Meanwhile, Hamas terror chiefs expressed pleasure at the Knesset vote, claiming they had succeeded in driving the “Zionists” out of Gaza.

Relinquishing the birthright

Media outlets and governments throughout the world Wednesday lauded the “historic” decision by Israel’s Knesset to back Sharon’s plan to unilaterally rid the Gaza Strip of its Jewish presence.

After millennia of foreign conquest and forced exile, Tuesday’s decision marked the first time the leaders of Israel had voluntarily relinquished control over land explicitly promised them by the Almighty.

The first five books of the Bible outline God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which included control over what is now Israel, the PA-controlled territories, western Jordan, as well as much of Lebanon and Syria.

The book of Joshua records the deeding of the Gaza Strip to the Tribe of Judah.

For more than a thousand years following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and ultimate subjugation of the nation of Israel, Gaza played host to a vibrant Jewish community.

That community thrived until 1929, when Arab Muslims carried out a widespread massacre of Gaza’s Jews under the apathetic eye of the area’s temporary British rulers.

During the 1967 Six Day War, Israel reclaimed its biblical and historical place in Gaza.

Opponents of Sharon’s plan have warned that if implemented, the Gaza withdrawal would set a dangerous precedent that would jeopardize Israel’s hold on Judea, Samaria and even eastern Jerusalem.

Growing rebellion

Immediately following the vote, Netanyahu and Livnat issued their ultimatum, complementing an identical challenge from the National Religious Party (NRP).

They said Health Minister Danny Naveh and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz were also on board.

“We have decided, a group of ministers and MKs that we would allow the prime minister two weeks to decide on a plebiscite. If noting is done by that time, we would quit the government,” Netanyahu told reporters.

If Sharon does not agree to hold a referendum on his plan within two weeks, all four senior ministers said they would join the NRP in openly opposing any further approval of the initiative.

Sharon would also find himself at the helm of a minority coalition with an even greater number of his own party members opposing him due to Netanyahu’s influence.

Seventeen Likud MKs, led by Uzi Landau, voted against Sharon’s plan Tuesday. Landau was dismissed from his ministerial post following the vote.

While Landau has succeeded in winning several symbolic victories against Sharon’s policies within the Likud, Netanyahu’s defection to the ranks of the so-called “rebels” would greatly multiply the prime minister’s difficulties.

Netanyahu and Livnat insisted they were not trying to topple Sharon, but said they could not be party to such a contentious initiative in the absence of a public mandate.

On Wednesday, a defiant Sharon told Israel’s Ma’ariv that he would not give in to his colleagues demands.

“Never in my life have I succumbed to pressure or threats, never,” the prime minister said.

Uncertain outcome

Sharon’s aversion to a referendum found explanation in an assessment offered by some of his close aides and reported by Army Radio Monday.

“Senior sources around the prime minister assessed this morning that Sharon would prefer having early elections rather than a national referendum,” the radio reported.

According to the sources, “the real meaning of a national referendum is cancellation of the disengagement plan, since they believe that Sharon is expected to lose in such a national referendum while elections can only strengthen the prime minister from a political standpoint."

Observers have explained that the sector of society opposed to the plan is more ideological in its outlook, and far more likely to show up en masse to vote in a referendum.

Security threat

Meanwhile, the Hamas terrorist organization issued statements Tuesday night expressing its pleasure with the outcome of the Knesset vote.

Officials associated with the group said the vote was further proof Hamas had succeeded in driving the “Zionist enemy” from Gaza by means of anti-Jewish terrorism.

And the terrorism will not end, but rather increase following Israel’s withdrawal, warned a detailed report by IDF Colonel (res.) Meir Indor.

"The public debate about the disengagement plan has concentrated mostly on the settlement issues, and has largely ignored the security issues - but the plain fact is that the plan will actually increase terrorism,” stated the document, which Indor circulated among the Knesset’s 120 members.

His report pointed out that following Sharon’s retreat, the “Palestinian” forces based in Gaza would be rearmed and retrained by the Americans, British, Egyptians and Jordanians, returning them to combat readiness.

And this after the IDF had spent the past several years severely weakening groups such as Hamas.

[ Ed. Note - The Western governments state that they want to stabilize and prepare the official PA security forces to combat terror, but largely ignore evidence provided by Israel showing that many members of the PA “police” are also active members of terror groups. ]

Like the article?
Help spread the word:
Jnewswire updates
Never miss another story
  • Inbox already too full?
    Subscribe to our
    RSS feed instead!