Twenty years of illusions have gone up in flames and been washed away in rivers of blood. The only way to ensure that our children will never face another October 7 is to stand firm, reassert control on the ground, and rebuild our deterrence
August 14, 2025 14:12
For the other side of the debate, read Dan Schueftan’s piece here.
Twenty years of illusions, of losing our way, and of grave mistakes that inflicted profound damage on Israel’s national security have passed since the so-called “Disengagement”.
“Disengagement” was the euphemism coined by the architects of this failed idea to rebrand Israel’s abandonment of the Gaza Strip to terrorist entities, a way to make the Israeli public swallow this poisoned chalice. The horrific events of October 7 are the direct consequence of that reckless decision to surrender Gaza to the control of terrorist organisations, but they are also the product of an even earlier folly. Those who believe the disaster began in 2005 are mistaken. It began in the early 1990s with the Oslo Accords.
The moment we, the Israelis, granted the Palestinians control over the cities – a decision made and executed by Prime Minister Rabin’s government when it signed the Oslo Accords – Israel forfeited its ability to maintain control on the ground. We pulled the IDF out from the very heart of counterterror operations and replaced it with hostile forces. This was not a minor error; it was a strategic blunder of historic proportions.
As the chief engineering officer of the Gaza Division between 1997 and 1999, I saw this first-hand. Only three years after Oslo, we had already uncovered 35 tunnels running beneath Gaza’s borders. These began as smuggling tunnels, later evolved into explosive-laden attack tunnels, and, after the Disengagement, became offensive terror tunnels penetrating Israeli territory. Each such tunnel was either a lifeline for terror or a springboard into the homes and kindergartens of nearby Israeli communities.
Before Oslo, a single rocket fired from Gaza was as rare as snow in the Negev. After Oslo, thousands of rockets rained down daily upon Israeli civilians. In 2001, the rocket fire on the Israeli town of Sderot began. By 2004, we had completely lost control. In effect, the 2005 Disengagement handed Hamas the greatest gift in its history: full control of Gaza, an open border to Egypt, and a gateway for importing weapons, military technology, and Islamist terrorists bent on murdering Jews.
The leaders and “experts” – both Israeli and international – who promised that this would bring peace sold the Israeli people a murderous lie. In reality, we got the exact opposite: an armed, fortified “Hamastan” directly linked to the regional terror network. Even now, just two years after the October 7 atrocities, there are those who dare speak again of withdrawals and “arrangements” with terrorists whose sole purpose in life is to kill Jews, destroy Israel, and establish an Islamic caliphate upon its ruins. Anyone demanding that Israel take such a course knows that every withdrawal, every concession, every retreat is essentially jet fuel for the engines of Islamist terror in Gaza specifically, and globally in general – yes, in the United States and Europe as well.
I say this as one who was there. As one who lived the terrain. As one who commanded forces and faced terror head-on. This is not theory; it is reality. The lesson is clear: you cannot fight terror from a position of weakness. You cannot stop the enemy when you flee from the front lines. Security is built through presence, through deterrence, through the application of force, and with the understanding that there is no substitute for absolute victory.
Twenty years of illusions have gone up in flames and been washed away in rivers of blood. Our responsibility today is to ensure that our children will never face another October 7. The only way to do this is to stand firm, reassert control on the ground, and rebuild our deterrence.
This is not a question of right or left. It is a matter of life and death. Those who fail to understand this endanger not only the State of Israel but the entire free world, inviting terror and destruction to their own doorstep.
Brigadier General (res) Amir Avivi is the founder and chairman of Israel’s Defence & Security Forum (IDSF). During his service, Avivi held a series of senior roles in the IDF, including deputy comptroller of the security forces, director of the Office of the Chief of Staff, deputy commander of the Gaza Division, commander of the Sagi Division, commander of Batallion 605 and commander of the School of Combat Engineering.
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