"No to expulsion, yes to the Land of Israel," shouted 150,000 protestors last July, as they demonstrated against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to evacuate all Jews from the Gaza Strip. The demonstrators formed a human chain that stretched from the Gaza Strip to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, 56 miles away. "Nothing can break this chain, because it is reinforced with the faith and unity of the nation of Israel," exclaimed one protester.

But opinion polls describe a divided nation of Israel, a country engulfed in a political firestorm. Supporters of Sharon's disengagement plan--approximately 66 percent of Israelis--believe that the military, political, economic, and human costs of maintaining Jewish communities in Gaza are too high. A vocal minority, comprised of religious and secular nationalists, disagrees. Nonetheless, Sharon remains determined: "I am working on the assumption that in the future there will be no Jews in Gaza," he said.

THE GAZA STRIP

The Gaza Strip is a seven-mile wide, 25-mile long strip of disputed territory in the southwest corner of Israel. From 1948 until 1967, Egypt controlled Gaza and used the region as a base for attacks against the Jewish state. During the Six Day War, Israel captured Gaza and, after the war, built settlements there to provide a buffer between Egypt and the western Negev. Settlement activity expanded when the Likud (a political party) swept the elections in 1977.

Likud's leaders supported religious nationalism, a philosophy that encourages Jews to fulfill God's promise and settle all parts of Biblical Israel. Today, 7,500 Jews live in 21 Gaza settlements, and they are surrounded by 1.3 million Palestinians who claim that Gaza should be part of an independent Palestinian state.

THE DISENGAGEMENT PLAN

After the Palestinians launched their terrorist war against Israel in September 2000, Israel discovered that the Palestinian Authority (PA)--the semi-autonomous government of the Palestinian people--was sponsoring terrorism. Sharon canceled negotiations on the permanent status of the Gaza Strip, claiming that Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian president, was no longer a peace partner. But after a three-year stalemate, Sharon has acted unilaterally (involving one side only), saying, "This vacuum, for which the Palestinians are to blame, cannot go on forever." On June 6, 2004, the Israeli Cabinet voted in principle to evacuate Gaza in four phases.

REACTIONS TO THE PLAN

Secular (non-religious) and religious nationalists oppose disengagement. The secular critics believe that Sharon's plan threatens Israel's security. They argue that Palestinian terrorists will interpret unilateral withdrawal as a sign of Israel's weakness. They worry that a withdrawal from Gaza without Palestinian concessions will strengthen the terrorists' resolve to destroy Israel.

Religious nationalists, on the other hand, oppose Sharon's plan because of their ideology. "Handing over parts of our holy land to non-Jews...is a sin and a crime," says Rabbi Avraham Shapira. Therefore, he advises that everything must be done to prevent the eviction of Gaza's Jews.

However, two-thirds of Israelis support Sharon's plan. Supporters say that unilateral withdrawal from Gaza is the only way to minimize Jewish casualties, demonstrate Israel's willingness to make painful choices to further peace, and preserve the Jewish character of the state of Israel in the years ahead.