Disengagement
The Disengagement, הנתקות, was an action taken by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to remove all permanent Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the northern West Bank (Samaria). It was adopted by the Israeli government and enacted in August 2005.
Soldiers and police had to physically drag the Israelis from their homes, evicting them by force. Some Israelis barricaded themselves into synagogues, standing on rooftops hurling abuse, flour and paint at soldiers. Others were reluctantly wrenched from their homes, acompanied by bewildered toddlers and screaming teenagers. By August 15, 2005, the residential buildings were all demolished. August 15, 2005 is the 10th of Av.
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We read in Midrash Rabbah,
Rabbi Simeon Bar Yochai taught: If you behold cities uprooted from their site in the land of Israel, know that the the inhabitants failed to pay the fees of the instructors in Bible and Mishnah; as it is said,
Wherefore is the land perished?... And the Lord said, Because they have forsaken My law.(Jeremiah 9:11)
It is interesting to note that the people who were evicted from the Gaza, belonged predominately to the Mafdal political party. It was this party, under the leadership of Afi Etam, who provided support for the Shinui party to be part of the government. It was Lapid, the head of the Shinui party, who drafted legislation that cut the government funding for rabbis teaching Torah throughout Israel.
