Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said the withdrawal of nearly 9,000 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip four years ago was a mistake, bringing mixed reaction from Middle East experts on the significance of his comments to relations with the United States and the peace process.
“We can only conduct genuine introspection and say that the unilateral evacuation from the Gaza Strip brought neither peace nor security,” Mr Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting yesterday in Jerusalem, according to a transcript e-mailed by his office to news agencies. “We will not repeat this mistake.”
Mr Netanyahu, who quit as finance minister a week before the Gaza withdrawal started in August 2005, under the government of then prime minister Ariel Sharon, said yesterday that agreements that involve ceding territory from now on will require “genuine recognition of Israel” and “security arrangements that can be enforced.”
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