Domestic Implications of Disengagement: Israeli Democratic Legitimacy and Palestinian Constitutional Order

For most of the world, the Israeli disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank that began on Monday is an event whose outcome will directly affect the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. When analysts and policymakers ask about “the day after,” they are generally thinking about how Israel and the Palestinians will interact with each other in the future. In fact, since the disengagement was not formulated as part of a broader strategic plan; its ultimate impact on the conflict is highly uncertain and will be a function of many unpredictable variables. But it may well have a much more direct impact on domestic governance, that is, on how Israelis and Palestinians will interact among themselves.