Strategic Assessment

Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip created the first homogenous contiguous area entirely under Palestinian control, with no Israeli presence whatsoever. Despite the importance and precedence of this step, there is general agreement that the limited Israeli withdrawal has not changed the basic conditions underlying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that the security threat facing Israel will continue to exist in the future. Still, there is no doubt that the withdrawal did bring about certain changes in the nature of the threat. The question of if and how security and military risks have resulted from the evacuation of settlers and Israeli military forces from the Gaza Strip provides an insight into the changes in this threat.