“A Test Case for Peace” -Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Daniel Ayalon

“A Test Case for Peace” -Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Daniel Ayalon

In June 2004, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced plans to unilaterally disengage from Gaza. Gaza was a territory that Israel had won during The Six-Day War in 1967. Israel hoped that withdrawing from Gaza would be an important step toward lasting peace with the Palestinians.

In 2005, Israel left Gaza, uprooting 1,700 families and 21 Jewish communities. Schools and synagogues were closed, and graves and military bases were relocated. Greenhouses and other structures from previous Israeli communities were left behind for Palestinians’ use and benefit. Yet upon Israel’s withdrawal, Palestinians instead entered these previously Israeli-owned buildings and destroyed them, along with several synagogues.

Following Israel’s withdrawal, the Palestinian Authority failed to transition smoothly into full control of Gaza. This leadership vacuum led to the terrorist group Hamas’s violent rise to power. To this day, Hamas diverts humanitarian resources away from the people in Gaza to buy weapons and dig tunnels for their war against Israel.

Since 2005, approximately 20,000 rockets, mortars, missiles, and incendiary IEDs (including anti-tank missiles, Qassam rockets, and Grad rockets) have been launched at Israel by Gaza-based terrorist groups. In 2021 alone, over 4,000 rockets were fired at Israel, and in 2022, over 1,100 rockets were fired.