On Wednesday, 7 September 2005, the IDI hosted a Roundtable discussion on Life after Disengagement. Prior to this event, several people turned to Carmit Gai, Head of the Forum, concerned that this event should be scheduled at a later date and that not enough time has gone by in order to process all that has happened. “Yet that’s exactly why we’re here,” she stated, “to discuss the process as it’s happening, while we are all still involved, hurt and confused.”
Each participant brought his/her unique perspective to the Roundtable. Below are just a few highlights:
IDI Senior Fellow Professor Yedidia Stern presented the crowd with several metaphors. He described the religious Zionists and part of the orthodox population as having undergone a “hostile takeover” by right-wing extremists. The process of having religious leaders mislead their audiences into believing that the disengagement wouldn’t take place was irresponsible. “It’s like a gambler who keeps raising his bet, and eventually places God on the table,” he said, referring to the mass-prayer at the Wailing Wall. Those irresponsible leaders made the settlers feel as if they had to choose which parent they love more, religion or law. Professor Stern expressed his concerns at what he called the failure of religious leadership. (Needless to say, he pointed out that many religious leaders did in fact act responsibly and that generalizations cannot be made.)
Rabbi Yoel Ben-Nun, Head of the Ein Tzurim Yeshiva, stressed that Israelis need to find common ground for what happened and for future decisions. He stated that the main issue is whether the land Israel gained after the six day war in 1967 is considered occupied by Israel or if it’s considered the legitimate right of Jews to be living on that land. The common ground should be that it is Israel’s right to be there, and therefore Israel can make a conscious decision of giving up that right, but it is Israel’s right to give up. However, he pointed out, that’s not what the government is saying.
IDI Senior Fellow Professor Aviezer Ravitzky shared his thoughts on what he repeatedly referred to as a “religious catastrophe.” The fact that religious leaders were placing the disengagement “up to God” was, to Professor Ravitzky, more disturbing than the disengagement. If one were to say that God would stop the disengagement, it would then be fair to say that it turns out that Prime Minister Sharon is stronger than God – which is simply unacceptable.
Mr. Adi Mintz, CEO of the Yesha Council, began by saying that two weeks ago on Thursday was the worst day of his entire life. “I can’t remember ever crying like that,” he stated while recalling the removal of the torah scrolls from his synagogue. He described the deep, inner, difficult experience of being uprooted from his home. Despite the pain, he stated that he will not “disengage” from the state of Israel, even after being evacuated from part of the land of Israel.
IDI researcher, Professor Yaron Ezrahi spoke about the reasons behind the disengagement. He said that former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin once said “we had a dream but we didn’t have the ability,” alluding to Israel’s ability to protect its borders. He further stated that both Rabin and Sharon couldn’t speak about their motives, but they both feared that the Israel Defense Forces are not strong enough to protect “greater” Israel in full.
Mrs. Chana Kehat, founder of the feminist Kolech Organization, pointed out that from the moment the disengagement plan went into action, Prime Minister Sharon did not say a word to the settlers. She then compared the government’s treatment of the settlers to the government’s treatment of the Palestinians, stating that the government behaved towards the settlers with the same amount of tenacity they have exhibited towards the Palestinians.
Mr. Ari Shavit, Reporter for Haaretz, stated that “the IDF’s impeccable conduct solved problems which the government’s leaders ignored.” He continued, “we can’t let this success blind us from certain problems.” And the bottom line: the disengagement is something that we need to learn from.