Aug. 15 marks the one-year anniversary of Israel's disengagement initiative, when Israel voluntarily withdrew all of its civilians and forces from Gaza and turned the entire area and part of the West Bank over to the Palestinian Authority (P.A.). Israel took those steps in hopes of paving the way for peace and a potential independent Palestinian state.
The disengagement plan required Israelis to give up their homes, places of work and worship, their schools and the farms where they grew everything from celery to bell peppers. After making these painful sacrifices for peace, Israelis for the past year have faced serious threats from Palestinian terror groups in Gaza that have fired rockets into Israel almost immediately after the withdrawal was completed.
$500 million was the amount of money Israel's security establishment spent to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities [38]
Footnotes
[1] "Failing marks," The Jerusalem Post, July 9, 2006
[2] Molad-Hayou, Tammy, "Evictees discover unemployment," ynetnews.com, July 2, 2006, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3270034,00.html
[3] Ibid.
[4] "AIPAC's Guide to Israel's Disengagement- By the Numbers," AIPAC Web site, accessed Aug. 14, 2006 http://www.aipac.org/disengagement/byTheNumbers.htm
[5] "Failing marks," The Jerusalem Post, July 9, 2006
[6] Kennemer, Daniel, "Gaza evacuees open 310 businesses," The Jerusalem Post, Aug. 14, 2006, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525867746&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
[7] "Failing marks," The Jerusalem Post, July 9, 2006
[8] Lavi, Tzvi, "Gaza Disengagement Cost Reaches NIS 9B," Globes, June 14, 2006
[9] "The Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Reference+Documents/Revised+Disengagement+Plan+6-June-2004.htm
[10] "Victims of Palestinian Terrorism and Violence since September 2000," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, accessed Aug. 15, 2006, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Palestinian+terror+since+2000/Victims+of+Palestinian+Violence+and+Terrorism+sinc.htm
[11] Spyer, Jonathan, "This war's real masters: Hamas and Hizbullah are doing the bidding of their backers in Damascus and Tehran," The Guardian, July 14, 2006
[12] "Israel's Disengagement Plan," AIPAC Web site, Feb.9, 2005;
"Gaza Strip," CIA World Factbook, accessed Aug. 14, 2006, https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gz.html
[13] Ibid.
[14] "The Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Reference+Documents/Revised+Disengagement+Plan+6-June-2004.htm
[15] "Embassy of Israel Briefing," Embassy of Israel Web site, Aug. 4, 2005, http://www.israelemb.org/articles/2005/August/2005080401.htm
"Window to Withdrawal: AIPAC's Guide to Israel's Disengagement," AIPAC Web site, accessed Aug. 13, 2006, http://www.aipac.org/disengagement/byTheNumbers.htm
[16] "The Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Web site, June 6, 2004, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Reference+Documents/Revised+Disengagement+Plan+6-June-2004.htm
[17] Ibid.
[18] "Israel readies 45,000 troops for Gaza pullout," Associated Press, from MSNBC Web site, July 5, 2005, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6448213/did/8475833;
"The Disengagement Plan- The Costs of Disengagement," Embassy of Israel Web site, Aug. 4, 2005, http://embassyofisrael.org/articles/2005/August/2005080400.htm
[19] "Embassy of Israel Briefing," Embassy of Israel Web site, Aug. 4, 2005, http://www.israelemb.org/articles/2005/August/2005080401.htm
[20] Ibid; Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005
[21] "Embassy of Israel Briefing," Embassy of Israel Web site, Aug. 4, 2005, http://www.israelemb.org/articles/2005/August/2005080401.htm;
"Engaging Disengagement," The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005
[22] "Embassy of Israel Briefing," Embassy of Israel Web site, Aug. 4, 2005, http://www.israelemb.org/articles/2005/August/2005080401.htm;
Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005
[23] Ibid.
[24] Ibid.
[25] "Embassy of Israel Briefing," Embassy of Israel Web site, Aug. 4, 2005, http://www.israelemb.org/articles/2005/August/2005080401.htm;
"Engaging Disengagement," The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005
[26] "Engaging Disengagement," The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005
[27] "Israel readies 45,000 troops for Gaza pullout," Associated Press, from MSNBC Web site, July 5, 2005, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6448213/did/8475833;
Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, 'Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout," Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005
[28] Arrow, Minda Lee, "Gaza settler relocation: new progress, ongoing complications," The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 15, 2005, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2326
[29] Lazaroff, Tovah, "Gush Katif dairy farmer has sleepless nights over cow remo(o)val," The Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2005
[30] Stahl, Julie, "Gaza farmers say government has no plan for them," Cybercast News Service, April 11, 2005, http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200504%5CFOR20050411a.html
[31] Ettinger, Yair, " Even the animals won't leave Gaza early," Haaretz , June 21, 2005, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=590195
[32] Stahl, Julie, "Gaza farmers say government has no plan for them," Cybercast News Service , April 11, 2005, http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeignBureaus%5Carchive%5C200504%5CFOR20050411a.html
[33] Ibid.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Ibid.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Ibid.
[38] "Israel's Disengagement Plan," AIPAC Web site, Feb.9, 2005
The Israel Project
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