Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories

At 7 am on the morning of September 12, 2005, three IDF soldiers unceremoniously locked the gate at Gaza’s Kissufim crossing point. A few Palestinians approached warily from their side of the just-closed border with Israel.

Many analysts think Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdrew Israeli troops and settlers from Gaza because of the Palestinian “demographic threat” to Israel’s Jewish and democratic character. In this Report, Jeff Aronson points out that Sharon, who has dismissed demographic concerns in the past, made his decision primarily for security reasons.