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No, we are not behaving like Nazis

This article is more than 18 years old
Isaac Herzog
Israel's disengagement is the best hope for lasting peace in decades

The coming days, weeks and months are going to be difficult for everyone in Israel and the Gaza Strip, but for the first time in decades there is genuine hope that this is the beginning of a process that can lead to a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

On August 15 Israel will begin withdrawing more than 8,000 of its citizens from the entire Gaza Strip and more than 300 sq miles of the northern West Bank. And it will happen, whatever obstacles are placed in our way.

We have had plenty of talk over the years, but progress towards peace and an end to this senseless violence will not happen through talk but through actions. And the disengagement is genuine, positive action - a step to break the deadlock, to reinvigorate the peace process. But this step does not come without pain and controversy. Indeed the strain on our democratic values has been considerable, with large parts of Israeli society refusing to accept the government's bold move.

I recently received a letter from a former high-school teacher of mine in Tel Aviv. He was liberated from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by a British army unit in which my father served. He was criticising me for working on the government's plan to withdraw from 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank. "How dare you pull Jews out of their homes?" he wrote. "This is just like what the Nazis did to us!"

Sadly, I am no longer surprised when a Jew compares me and other Israeli officials to Nazis. It has become part of the rhetoric of those who oppose withdrawal. What concerns me more than these comparisons is the fact that, while most settlers are likely to leave of their own volition, tensions here in Israel are starting to reach the point where a tiny minority may use violent resistance to try to foil the withdrawal.

Seen from the UK, the evacuation of 8,000 Jews from their homes may seem simple, straightforward even. But this disengagement will not be easy. Imagine the difficulty and controversy involved in relocating an entire town the size of Hartlepool or Maidstone, against the will of many residents, and you can begin to understand the complexity of the task ahead of us.

Yet, despite the difficulty, I believe Israeli democracy will face the challenge and be strengthened. The majority of Israelis continue to back the government as it embarks on this path because they are convinced that eventually the withdrawal will bear fruit - for Israel and the Palestinians. By withdrawing from Gaza, Israel will legally end the occupation of an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians. Israel will no longer need to set up checkpoints and roadblocks within Gaza, and evacuated settlements will provide desperately needed buildings to ease Gaza's crowding. Most importantly, Israel will have shown that it is fully committed to a two-state solution.

Still, like all such undertakings, withdrawal is fraught with risks. While the disengagement plan should prove to the Palestinians and the Arab world that Israel is serious about peace and the creation of a viable Palestinian state, the withdrawal risks sending the wrong message: Palestinians may come to believe that terrorism is what forced Israel from Gaza.

Like many Israelis I am fearful that rather than leading to a reduction in terrorism, the disengagement plan may be used as an excuse by the Palestinian terrorists for further violence.

This is why it is critical that the entire Palestinian leadership face their own challenge and make it clear to their own people that Israel's leaving Gaza does not represent a victory for armed struggle. Rather it is proof that peaceful means will bring Palestinians closer to fulfilling their hopes for independence than years of senseless violence have. Should the majority of Palestinians see the withdrawal for what it is - a bold step towards an elusive peace - then Israel's move will reignite hope that a broader, negotiated two-state solution is possible.

Beyond rhetoric, it is imperative that Palestinian leaders prevent the terrorists trying to fire on Israelis during the withdrawal. Equally, they must ensure that the land Israel leaves behind does not fall into the hands of Hamas, but rather goes towards easing the plight of the refugees in Gaza.

At the end of the day, we in Israel will move beyond our present disagreements. I believe that those who oppose our withdrawal from Gaza, such as my old teacher, will eventually come to see why leaving Gaza was inevitable. Should we succeed in carrying out the withdrawal smoothly, peacefully and quickly, and if the Palestinians can control their own opposition forces and make democracy prevail, hope will be restored for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Israel would much prefer to be the first democracy in the Middle East rather than the only one.

· Isaac Herzog is the minister of construction and housing in the Israeli government

Knesset.gov.il

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