While Israelis commemorated a national day of mourning on Sunday for the numerous tragedies that befell the Jewish people on the ninth of Av, Culture Minister Miri Regev (Likud) toured the communities bordering Gaza in Israel’s western Negev and apologized for supporting the Gaza Disengagement.
In 2005, United States President George W. Bush forced Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (Likud) to surrender the Gaza region and remove nearly 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gaza and northern Samaria.
Regev was the Israeli military spokesperson at the time and had been a visible advocate for the expulsion.
“I will never assist in evacuating Jews,” said Regev on Sunday. “Since I left the army, I have worked to strengthen Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.”
Regev added that she had only followed military orders in supporting the expulsion.
“I do not expect soldiers or officers in the army to act against the orders of the chief of staff,” she said. “The army didn’t make the decision regarding the disengagement, but rather the political echelon.”
Regev’s enthusiastic support of the expulsion surfaced in May after Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) brought up her role during an interview with Israel’s Channel 10, reminding viewers that Regev had called Gush Katif residents “barbaric and criminal” and had accused the expellees of “emotional blackmailing” Israeli soldiers.
After Edelstein highlighted the prominent role Regev played in the destruction of Gush Katif, Regev apologized, telling Army Radio that “the behavior of the residents [or Gush Katif] came from a painful place and their behavior was not barbaric. I was wrong to say it.”
Sunday, the tenth of Av, marked the 13th anniversary of the contentious Disengagement policy that nearly brought the people of Israel to civil war. For many Jews, the expulsion is remembered as one more of the many national catastrophes commemorated on the ninth of that month (and on the tenth whenever the ninth lands on Shabbat).
Regev predicted that a similar evacuation could never occur in the West Bank due to the area’s proximity to major Israeli population centers.
“Today’s reality is different. Judea and Samaria overlook strategic areas in the State of Israel,” said Regev. “There will be no such recommendation.”
