1、ISRAELS GAZA WITHDRAWAL10 YEARS LATER:MORESUCCESSFUL THAN YOU THINKDANIEL BYMANAUGUST 13,2015COMMENTARYOn August 15,2005,Israel began closing its small settlements in Gaza and withdrawing the troops that protected themas well as the forces that tried to stop smuggling along the Gaza-Egypt border.The
2、 last Israeli soldier left a month later,ending an Israeli presence that had begun with the 1967 war.Ten years later,Gaza is a quasi-state,with Hamas atits helm:seemingly Israels worst nightmare.Yet the Gaza withdrawal was in many ways a success,and Israelis and theirAmerican allies would do well to
3、 reflect on the benefits and the costs as they contemplate future policies.When Ariel Sharon became prime minister in 2001,withdrawal did not seem in the cards.As a government ministerin the past,Sharon had been a prominent supporter of the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank,andhe
4、won election in part because of his reputation for being tough on Palestinians.So when Sharon announced plans forthe unilateral withdrawal,it seemed the Israeli presence in Gaza came at a high cost with little reward:Some 3,000soldiers protected 8,500 settlers who lived among a population of 1.4 mil
