Ideological Change and Israel's Disengagement from Gaza

Abstract

Early on the morning of 12 September 2005?almost two years after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon first announced his intention of pursuing a policy of unilateral disengagement?the last Israeli soldier left Gaza. This brought to an end Israel's 38-year military rule over the area that began with its capture in the 1967 Six-Day War. implementation of the plan involved the evacuation of over 8,000 Israeli settlers from all twenty-one settlements in Gaza and four isolated settlements in the West Bank.1 This was undoubtedly a historic event. For the first time, an Israeli government had dismantled and evacuated settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. What made it even more significant was the fact that the disengagement plan was initiated and implemented by a Likud-led coalition government headed by Ariel Sharon, the father of the settlements. What accounts for this un precedented move? This article seeks to answer this critical question. One possible answer focuses on Sharon himself. It views the disengage ment as a cunning tactical maneuver designed to shore up Sharon's domestic popularity, deflect international pressure from Israel, and forestall any further withdrawals from the West Bank. This interpretation gained credence when Dov Weisglass, one of Sharon's closest advisers, stated: The disengagement is