Free Republic

The Knesset held a special session on Monday, two years after the death of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took to the plenum to remember Sharon, offering both praise and criticism. ..... Netanyahu was harshly critical, however, of Sharon’s controversial decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip in the 2005 Gaza Disengagement. He blamed Sharon’s actions for the rise of the Hamas government in Gaza and its increasing ability to strike at the heart of Israel. “In Gaza, we received a base for Hamas terror adjacent to our territory,” he said. “Unfortunately, transferring control...

Public support for a mass eviction of Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria has dropped nearly 50%, according to a survey conducted by Ariel University Center's Samaria & Jordan Rift Valley R&D center. The survey, an annually published index of public opinion on the settlement enterprise and settlers, was unveiled Thursday at an academic conference hosted at the Ariel campus. According to the data, the percentage of Israelis supporting a massive eviction of settlers in Judea and Samaria as part of a peace treaty has declined to about 14% of the adult Jewish population. This compares to 27% last year....