Israel’s development of a more effective anti-missile system
is absolutely essential, as last summer’s war proves. So Barak is absolutely right on that one. However, coupling that with unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank is sheer lunacy.
Just two years ago, Israel evacuated all 9,000 Israelis living in Gaza and four northern West Bank communities in an effort to pave the way for peace and a future Palestinian state. During the disengagement, Israel uprooted entire communities including schools, businesses, places of worship and the only Jewish cemetery there.
The only Israeli still in the Gaza Strip today is Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped while patrolling the Israeli side of the Gaza border June 25, 2006