Ex-Israeli Def. Minister blasts Gaza disengagement, warns against Palestinian state

Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, chief of the center-left National Unity party, criticizes the 2005 Gaza withdrawal and warns against establishment of a Palestinian state.

By World Israel News Staff

A senior leader of the Israeli Opposition warned that establishing a Palestinian state would harm Israeli security, and expressed support for the continued presence of the IDF in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, in southern Lebanon, and in parts of southwestern Syria.

MK Benny Gantz, chairman of the center-left National Unity party and former Alternative Prime Minister of Israeli who also served as Defense Ministers, spoke at a conference Tuesday hosted by the right-leaning Makor Rishon newspaper in the Samaria town of Ofra, north of Jerusalem.

During his address, Gantz lamented Israel’s Gaza Disengagement plan, carried out in August 2005, under which the IDF removed all 9,000 Israelis living in the Gaza Strip, evacuating all 21 Israeli towns and dismantling army bases across the coastal enclave.

In particular, Gantz criticized the clearing of the three Israeli towns on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip – Dugit, Alei Sinai, and Nisanit – which were located between the Palestinian population and the State of Israel.

“The [Gaza] Disengagement was very problematic step,” Gantz said. “But the greatest mistake, in my opinion, was the evacuation of northern Gaza [towns]. We should have stayed there to maintain control over Gaza, and we should have stayed there to inform the world that the ’67 lines are not relevant. This has been my position for many years.”

Gantz went on to distance himself from support within the Israeli Opposition for Palestinian statehood and large-scale Israeli withdrawals from Judea and Samaria, calling both “delusional.”

“The State of Israel cannot allow a direct and significant threat to its citizens at any borders. Therefore, we need to maintain security control and keep freedom of action in Gaza, in Judea and Samaria, in southern Lebanon, and along the border with Syria. The implication is clear, and anyone who talks about a Palestinian state or withdrawals is simply delusional.”

Gantz, who briefly joined the Netanyahu government after October 7th, 2023, claimed that he was behind the policy of holding portions of Gazan territory under long-term Israeli control.

“I was the one who raised the need to take territory in Gaza for two reasons: first to protect our citizens, and to create a perimeter that separates them from Gaza in the Gaza Strip, focusing on the northern part of the strip. And the second, as part of the price that must be exacted from Hamas at least until its regime is changed.”

Gantz added that he supports retaining IDF control over Gaza, while opposing annexation or civil administration of civilian areas inside the Strip.

“I will say honestly, at this time, I am in favor of full security control, but I believe that returning civilians to Gaza would be a security mistake and divide the nation at a time when we need unity.”

“Israel needs to make a decision that we will not allow any wide-scale invasion threat to develop on our borders, and we will take proactive steps if such a threat develops.”

2005 disengagementBenny Gantzgaza stripPalestinian StatePalestinian statehood