Gantz Flips on Gaza Pullout Stance

Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity party, stated Monday that Israel’s complete 2005 withdrawal from Gaza was a mistake, shifting from 2019 remarks in which he said that not only was it a good thing, but that Israel should do the same in other territories.

He now believes that Israel should have retained three northern Gaza settlements, Dugit, Nissanit, and Elei Sinai; not only for security purposes but also to signal to the international community that the 1967 borders are outdated and irrelevant.

Media reports which circulated Tuesday regarding his remarks omitted his previous statements.

Gantz further admitted that the disengagement process, which involved dismantling all Israeli settlements in Gaza and evacuating approximately 8,500 residents, was fraught with numerous problems, though in 2019 he praised it as a success.

He also claimed, without evidence, that during his early participation in the security cabinet amid the current conflict with Hamas, he pushed for the seizure of territory in Gaza to create a buffer zone between Israel and the Palestinian enclave.

“The disengagement was a process with lots of problems. But the biggest mistake, in my opinion, was evacuating the northern settlements of Dugit, Nissanit, and Elei Sinai,” says Gantz at the “Settlements Conference” in Ofra, organized by the Mekor Rishon newspaper.

“We should have stayed there to control the territory, but principally there was a need to remain there in order to inform the world that the 1967 lines are not relevant,” he continues.

While Gantz now advocates for full Israeli security control over Gaza, he warns that rebuilding settlements within the Strip would be an error.

After launching a campaign against Prime Ministry Binyamin Netanyahu in 2019, Gantz told Yediot Aharonot “The Disengagement was carried out with a lot of political consideration…All sides had a lot at stake and the state managed to do it without tearing the country apart. It was done legally, carried out by the State of Israel, the IDF and the settlers in a painful way, but a good one.”

He also believed the Gaza pullout strategy should be replicated, but didn’t explicitly say where.

“We must take the lessons from the disengagement and implement them in other areas,” he said.