In 2008 Israel agreed to a swathe of Palestinian demands: a state on the West Bank with its capital in East Jerusalem, plus an Israeli withdrawal from settlements and the Old City. At Camp David in 2000, a similar offer was made. Both were disdained by the Palestinian Authority. Even more poignantly, 20 years ago today, Israel unilaterally withdrew from idyllic Gaza, which has a rich Jewish history, and handed the keys to the Palestinians.
At the time, the disengagement was hugely traumatic, with IDF troops deployed to drag Jews living in Gaza from their homes and hand their villages to the Arabs. Their flourishing businesses, such as commercial greenhouses, were abandoned intact for the benefit of new Palestinian owners. Even Jewish graves were disinterred, the bodies transferred to Israel to give the Arabs complete domination of the Strip.
In 2008 Israel agreed to a swathe of Palestinian demands: a state on the West Bank with its capital in East Jerusalem, plus an Israeli withdrawal from settlements and the Old City. At Camp David in 2000, a similar offer was made. Both were disdained by the Palestinian Authority. Even more poignantly, 20 years ago today, Israel unilaterally withdrew from idyllic Gaza, which has a rich Jewish history, and handed the keys to the Palestinians.
At the time, the disengagement was hugely traumatic, with IDF troops deployed to drag Jews living in Gaza from their homes and hand their villages to the Arabs. Their flourishing businesses, such as commercial greenhouses, were abandoned intact for the benefit of new Palestinian owners. Even Jewish graves were disinterred, the bodies transferred to Israel to give the Arabs complete domination of the Strip.