There have been so many articles and youtube videos about Disengagement in the media. They mention all aspects of it, and I didn't notice any claiming that it had been a good policy decision. Thank Gd for that. I wrote a "letter to the editor" to the Jerusalem Post concerning the articles I had read in the paper and the magazine. This post is based on that letter which, as of today, hadn't been published.
I was very pleased/impressed by the great variety and quantity of articles in last Friday's paper about twenty years since Disengagement, but maybe I missed something. It's a very big elephant in the room, especially for someone who has lived in Israel since 1970. I'm referring to Menachem Begin's "Camp David Accords," which is to blame for Israel's withdrawal from the Sinai and the total destruction of all Israeli communities, Yamit and others there. Disengagement was clearly modeled on it, and both Begin and Arik Sharon were Prime Ministers from the Likud. Yes, just like the Likud elections slogan: "Only the Likud Can Do It." Voluntarily destroying Jewish communities, especially agricultural ones, had been a "red line" for the Labor Party.
Close to a half century after Menachem Begin proudly announced his "achievement," I still consider it the most insanely dangerous decision in Israeli history. As we've seen since then, Israel doesn't know how to negotiate wisely. Why didn't he insist on keeping all of the moshavim and towns in Sinai as proof of peace?
Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon and Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu were/are plagued/cursed with a desire to show the world that they're reasonable moderates and as a result they do what they consider "diplomatic," generous endangering the security and existence of the State of Israel.
I'll never forget Begin's speech afterward the withdrawal/destruction of Jewish communities in which he claimed that the remaining and new Israeli communities in Gaza and nearby would be forever, fully recognized forever by the world as part of Israel.
Gush Katif was to be the replacement of the Sinai for Jewish settlement. For example, Neve Dekalim was named for the destroyed Moshav Dikla.
Twenty plus years ago, I was incredulous that the anti-Disengagement organizers didn't use Begin's speech in the campaign. I tried to contact them about it but failed.
Tzachi Hanegbi, whose mother Geula Cohen left the Likud over the withdrawal, described the agreement as the precedent for legitimizing Disengagement.
For many of us, the scars of Begin's Sinai withdrawal have only gotten more prominent with Disengagement and Bibi's unending destruction of Jewish communities throughout Judea and Samaria.
