Israel unilateral disengagement plan of 2004
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan (also known as the disengagement plan, תוכנית ההינתקות) is a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to remove all permanent Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip and from what Israel refers to as northern Samaria (part of what is known as the West Bank to the Palestinians, the UN, and most of the international community). The Gaza Strip contains 21 civilian Israeli settlements, and the area to be evacuated in Samaria contains four; these areas also contain numerous IDF installations. Sharon says the plan is designed to improve Israel's security and international status, in the absence of political negotiations to end the conflict.
U.S. president George W. Bush endorsed the plan, saying:
- As part of a final peace settlement, Israel must have secure and recognized borders, which should emerge from negotiations between the parties in accordance with UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338. In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949. (emphasis added)
The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, announced the European Union's disapproval of the plan, saying it "will not recognize any change to the pre-1967 borders other than those arrived at by agreement between the parties." However, Europe has given tentative backing to the Disengagemnt plan as part of the Road Map for Peace.
Under the disengagement plan [1] as adopted on 6 June 2004 (see below), the IDF will remain on the Gaza-Egypt border and may engage in further house demolitions to widen a 'buffer zone' there (Art 6). Israel will continue to control Gaza's borders, coastline, and airspace, and reserves the right to undertake military operations at will (Art 3.1). Gaza will also remain dependent on Israeli water, communication, electricity, and sewage networks (Art 8); existing customs arrangements with Israel (whereby imports from Israel to Gaza are not taxed, exports from Gaza to Israel are taxed, and Israel collects customs duties on foreign products entering Gaza) will remain in force and the Israeli currency will continue to be used (Art 10). For these reasons, and because Israel will not accept a Palestinian sovereign authority in Gaza at this time, foreign observers have argued that legally speaking, the disengagement will not constitute an end to Israeli control (see, for example, the statement by Human Rights Watch [2] and extensive legal analysis by the Harvard International Humanitarian Law Research initiative [3]
Chronology
Ariel Sharon first announced his plan in at the Herzlia Conference, 2004, sponsored by the ICT academic institute. Failing to gain public support from senior ministers, Sharon agreed that the Likud party would hold a referendum on the plan in advance of an Israeli cabinet vote. The referendum was held on May 2, 2004 and ended with 65% of the voters saying no to his disengagement plan despite most polls showing approximately 55% of Likud members supporting the plan before the referendum.
Commentators and the press described the rejection of the disengagement plan as a hard blow to Sharon. Sharon himself announced that he accepts the Likud referendum results and will take time to consider his steps. He ordered Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz to create an amended plan which Likud voters could accept.
On June 6, 2004, Sharon's government approved the amended disengagement plan but with the reservation that dismantling of each settlement should be voted separately. The plan was approved with a 14–7 majority after the National Union ministers and cabinet members Avigdor Liberman and Benny Elon were sacked and a compromise offer by Likud's cabinet member Tzipi Livni was achieved.
Following the approval of the plan and the intensive terrorist attacks on the Erez crossing and the Erez industrial zone, it was decided to close the Erez Industrial Zone and move its factories to development towns such as Ashkelon, Dimona, Yeruham and Sderot. Many factories were shut down earlier, because of increased attacks. == External links ==