A staggering 38% of Israelis support post-war Jewish resettlement in the Gaza Strip, exemplified by a discordantly jubilant conference on Sunday, January 28 led by right-wing activists, ministers, and lawmakers including Itamar Ben Gvir and Betzalel Smotrich. Why do so many Israelis want to undo the 2005 Gaza disengagement, and why are some of them celebrating this moment?

Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi unpack the layers of motivation driving this sentiment, the consequences it could have to Israel’s unity, the peace process, and the genocide case at the Hague, and what the Israeli political center can do in response.

Mentioned in this episode:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/38-of-israelis-back-reestablishment-of-gaza-settlements-poll/ 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/12-ministers-call-to-resettle-gaza-encourage-gazans-to-leave-at-jubilant-conference/ 

 

A transcript of this episode is available here.