In April 2005, mere months before Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip and the destruction of the Jewish settlements of Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sa-Nur in northern Samaria, I had a long talk with then-Prime Minister and Likud party leader Ariel Sharon.
As the head of the Meretz party at the time and a supporter of the disengagement, I tried to dissuade Sharon from implementing a unilateral move and instead carry out the disengagement within the framework of an agreement of understandings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. After coming to realize that such an agreement would be unthinkable to Sharon, I asked for an explanation on the eviction of the four Samaria settlements. These communities sit on an area twice the size of the Gaza Strip, I told him, and it is unclear why the homes there are being demolished and what will be done in the area following the settlers' eviction.
"What do you mean?" Sharon asked.
I asked him: Will this area remain part of Area C, which is under Israeli military and security control, or do you intend to transfer the area to the Palestinian Authority? And if so, will it be transferred to Area B, which is under Palestinian civil control only, or Area A, which is under full PA control?
Promising to look into the matter, Sharon wrote a note and asked to have it delivered to his diplomatic adviser Shalom Tourgeman, who was sitting in the next room. Before our conversation came to a close, a response was delivered in note form. Sharon read it word for word, explaining that what had been decided at this stage was the eviction and demolition of the settlements. The legal status of the evicted area had yet to be examined, he said.
I will admit I was surprised by this answer, but I wrote it down before we said our goodbyes. We later spoke several times on the phone, but that was to have been our last face-to-face meeting.
Sharon's decision to withdraw from Gaza remains a topic of debate 14 years down the line. But while the eviction of IDF forces and settlers from Gaza created a new situation in the territory, allowing Palestinians to establish self-government there (under the PA in 2007 and later under Hamas), the situation in northern Samaria remains in question. The territory has not been given over to the Palestinians, despite Israel's territorial debt to the Palestine Liberation Organizations, in accordance with the interim agreements of the 1993 Oslo Accords. And those evicted from the territory are angry that beyond the demolition of their homes, nothing else has happened there. They now want rebuild what was once destroyed. Last week, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein joined the pilgrimage to the four former settlements and demanded a return of Jewish settlers there.
Whether taken following meticulous planning or negligence, Sharon's actions have not won Israel any points in the diplomatic and international arena. They have hurt settlers who believe the destruction of their homes was completely unnecessary.
Now the time has come to take action and transfer the territory to the Palestinians, who require it for industry and construction. This is a step that could win us points before the release of U.S. President Donald Trump's so-called "deal of the century," and make the Palestinians respond positively to it. It is highly unlikely the coalition currently being formed will contemplate such a move.
