Was it Really a Trauma? Wider Political Implications of the Removal of Israeli Settlements from Sinai

Abstract

This article discusses the political conditions allowing the Israeli government to negotiate a peace treaty with Egypt, which led to the evacuation of Israeli settlements in Sinai. This evacuation had no precedent in Israeli history, yet the author finds it did not create a trauma for most Israelis, so the Israeli government was able to implement the peace process with little public debate or resistance. The author states that most Israelis avoided analyzing the ideological framework of the evacuation because of dissonance with either their religious or political beliefs, and because at that time the majority sought relief from the Arab-Israeli conflict, even through territorial compromise. The article concludes that the long-term implications of the evacuation include changing Israeli attitudes toward settlement removal and compromise with the Arabs, and predicts that only a strong coalition government dominated by the Alignment will likely be able to begin serious negotiations concerning the West Bank.