Tel Aviv, July 22 – Left-wing activists and politicians in favor of further land concessions to the Palestinians are adducing the recent rocket fire from Gaza, which Israel left in 2005, as evidence that Israel should make more such concessions.

More than 1,600 rockets have been fired this month alone from the Gaza Strip, from which Israel evacuated all of its citizens, dismantled all of its settlements, and withdrew its military nine years ago. In return for handing over control of the territory to the Palestinians, Israel was rewarded with the thousands of rockets aimed its towns and cities. Those who argue for further ceding of territory to the Palestinians point to these developments as clear proof of the benefits of the Gaza Disengagement.

“Imagine the situation we would enjoy if [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu would simply sit down and sign away more territory to the Palestinians,” said Meretz chairwoman Zahava Gal-On, whose far-left party believes Israel should withdraw from all areas seized in 1967. “What we have here is a clear demonstration of the wisdom of such a strategy, and it is unconscionable for the government to ignore its duty to do the right thing for its citizens.”

Opposition leader Yitzchak Herzog of the Labor Party sounded a more cautious note, but echoed Ms. Gal-On’s call for concessions. “The Palestinians have proved that when we give them land, they use it as they have always used it,” he said, referring to “Fedayeen” terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians from beyond the Green Line in the years prior to Israel’s capture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War. “Every indication now points to the Gaza Disengagement as precedent for the model Israel should follow,” explained Herzog: remove civilians, dismantle settlements, withdraw all forces, sit back and watch as radical elements gain control, and absorb rocket fire, mortar attacks, and terrorist infiltrations from the area.

“The current round of violence shows exactly what advantages would accrue to Israel upon withdrawal from other areas,” concurred an editorial in Haaretz today. “As a result of the continuous rocket fire, international opinion has swung Israel’s way in an unprecedented fashion. Israeli lives, security, mental health, and state of the economy are a small price to pay for looking good in the eyes of our role models, the European Socialists.”