State of Israel versus the Land of Israel

I've only just been sent this Ha'aretz article by Tom Segev though it was published on 12/9 and it's all over the web now. Titled "The sky did not fall down" it suggests that the withdrawal from Gaza was a potentially great psychological leap away from the messianism that gripped zionism in the wake of the '67 war. There are some interesting reported comments from '67 "legends" like Dayan who didn't want Gaza, and Rabin, who didn't want it either, to Bar-Lev who wanted it and believed he could "cleanse" it in four hours. So why did they conquer Gaza? Because they could, is the shortest answer to that. War maybe a logical way of achieving political aims but once it begins, the illogic of war itself takes over. So argues Segev anyway.

As long as the alternatives facing the state ahead of the Six-Day War were considered in a level-headed manner, most of the decision-makers agreed that most of the territory that Israel was likely to occupy shouldn't be occupied. Nevertheless, the territory was occupied, because when the battles began, the decision-makers acted on gut feelings and from the heart, and not from the head.

And so

The Six-Day War led to nationwide agreement that Gaza is not to be given back "for all eternity" - even in return for peace. Gaza and Jerusalem were one and the same. And this consent formed the basis for the logic in establishing permanent Israeli settlements in the Strip. The residents were able to believe that that they would remain there forever.

So, taking the withdrawal of settlers from Gaza as the key factor in the disengagement, and ignoring the fact that Gaza seems to be as occupied as ever in terms of Israeli attacks and control over airspace and boundaries, Segev argues that a line might have been been crossed.

The immediate lesson to be learned is that settlements can be dismantled without the sky falling down. Most Israelis support this; there is no national trauma. Hence, the withdrawal from Gaza and the dismantling of the settlements may turn out to be a landmark in the cultural war that is taking place in Israel. The limited tactical nature of the withdrawal does not yet facilitate making a declaration that it signifies the victory of the State of Israel over the Land of Israel, but it could be one step back from the messianic trend that took over Zionism in the wake of the Six-Day War, and one step toward the rational trend that characterized it before the war.

It should be noted that this article was written before Israel began its recent bombardments of Gaza and so perhaps Segev was right to express himself in ifs and buts.