Quote:
Originally Posted by AltaGuy
Israel pulled settlements out of Gaza because the majority of the Israeli public was sick of wasting resources and lives protecting a lunatic fringe. It was - first and foremost - a military decision. In no way shape or form was Israel 'conceding' anything to the Palestinians.
In addition, the outposts of Gaza hardly resembled the San Diego-style suburbs of permanent settlements in the West Bank.
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You're just making things up now. Within the West Bank there are far more isolated settlements than there were in the Gaza Strip.
The disengagement plan was also not the result of public pressure. In fact, it actually took a lot of pressure to get the public (and the politicians) to agree. Also, do you really think having an islamist terrorist state is easier (either economically or militarily) for the Israelis?
Also, here a picture of Neve Dekalim, the biggest former settlement in Gaza, looks pretty similar to other settlements to me:
The move to disengage was 100% a test case to see how the Palestinian people would react to removal of Israeli military presence.