by Mati Tuchfeld
Hat tip: Dr. Jean-Charles Bensoussan
Former GOC Central Command Yair Naveh: If the disengagement proved anything, it is that terrorism has nothing to do with settlements
Then-GOC Central Command
Maj. Gen Yair Naveh during the 2005 disengagement from Gaza
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Photo credit: Miri Tzachi  |
Twelve years after Israel disengaged from the
Gaza Strip, Maj. Gen (res.) Yair Naveh, then GOC Central Command and
later deputy chief of staff, believes reality has proven the move has
failed to give Israel any security or diplomatic advantage.
The 2005 unilateral disengagement from the
coastal enclave saw Israel evict Gush Katif, a bloc of 17 communities in
southern Gaza, and return to its 1967 border with the Strip. As part of
the plan, Israel also evicted four secluded settlements in northern
Samaria. The move, during which 8,600 Israelis lost their homes, remains
highly controversial to this day, as many believe it is directly linked
to the increased terrorist activity and rocket fire emanating from
Gaza.
"There's no doubt that we weren't able to
create any sort of security advantage, neither in Gaza nor in Samaria,
Naveh said in a special interview with Israel Hayom. "If the
disengagement from Gaza contributed anything to history, it did so by
proving that terrorism has nothing to do with the settlement enterprise,
and by proving that an eviction of this nature cannot be carried out in
such a way again.
"There was no advantage to this eviction.
None. Zero. Nothing has changed for the better there. It had no added
value to security or to anything else. It was a frustrating event that
left a feeling that it was all for nothing," he said.
Next week, Naveh will participate in a
conference of coalition lawmakers who plan to introduce legislation that
would allow the residents of Kadim, Ganim, Homesh and Sa-Nur -- the
four northern Samaria settlements evicted in 2005 -- to re-establish
their communities.
Unlike the Gush Katif communities, which were
razed immediately after the disengagement, the four Samaria communities
were left standing, turning into ghost towns in an area that remains
under the IDF's control.
A bill to resurrect the four communities was
introduced during the previous government's term, but as it included
unrealistic articles seeking to resurrect Gush Katif settlements as
well, it failed to pass a parliament vote.
As the new legislation proposal focuses solely
on Kadim, Ganim, Homesh and Sa-Nur, its proponents believe it has a
good chance of passing its Knesset readings.
The bill is the brainchild of Samaria Regional
Council head Yossi Dagan and Habayit Hayehudi MK Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli.
It is co-sponsored by Coalition Chairman MK David Bitan, Likud MKs Yoav
Kisch, Nurit Koren, Amir Ohana and Avraham Neguise, Habayit Hayehudi MKs
Bezalel Smotrich and Moti Yogev, and Shas MKs Yakov Margi and Michael
Malchieli.
While Naveh agrees that Homesh and Sa-Nur
should be resettled for security reasons, he believes the resettlement
of Kadim and Ganim should be re-examined.
He further said that as a religious man, he
had deliberated whether to carry out the eviction orders and revealed
that even today, 12 years after the fact, he is still criticized by the
national religious sector for his role in the disengagement.
Mati Tuchfeld
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=43139&hp=1
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