Israel Must Rebuild Jewish Gaza

As Israel’s ground operations against Hamas in Gaza continue, an open question that remains unanswered is what will happen the day after the terrorist organization is eliminated.

Various proposals have been bandied about, one more unrealistic than the other, leaving the fate of the territory and its inhabitants uncertain.

When Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and expelled 9,000 Jews living in 21 communities there, the Palestinian Authority was given the task of administering the area, but its corruption and mismanagement paved the way for Hamas to take control two years later. Realistically, then, there is no Palestinian leadership with a proven track record that can be trusted to run Gaza for the benefit of its people while also preventing attacks against the Jewish state.

Hence, I want to suggest a simple, though far from simplistic, solution: Israel should reassert full military and civilian control over Gaza and rebuild the Jewish communities that were uprooted. This is the only way to ensure that Gaza will both prosper and not pose a threat to Israel’s existence.

After all, in August 2005, we were assured by then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, and much of the mainstream media, that Israel’s pullout would strengthen Palestinian moderates, weaken Islamic extremists, and silence the world’s criticism. Those who opposed the withdrawal, myself included, were derided as pessimists and naysayers.

But if the October 7 attack taught us anything, it is that the lack of an Israeli presence in Gaza undermined the country’s deterrent posture and intelligence-gathering capability and allowed Hamas to plan and train at will.

That cannot and must not be allowed to happen ever again.

Anyone who studies the region knows that it is a basic and fundamental truth of Zionist history and Middle Eastern reality that Jewish settlements are not an obstacle to peace but an impediment to war.

Moreover, Hamas’ goal of destroying Israel is based in part on the assumption that the Jewish presence in that part of the world is temporary or transitory. Logically, the best way to combat that is to demonstrate in a tangible way that it is wrong and that the Jewish people are not going anywhere.

The fact is that Gaza has a long and proud Jewish history that stretches back to biblical times.

During the Talmudic era, Gaza was home to a large Jewish population and served as a major port of commerce. Indeed, one of the oldest synagogues ever found in the Land of Israel is in Gaza, and it dates back to the early sixth century, more than 1,400 years before Hamas or the PLO were founded. During the Middle Ages, Gaza was home to a thriving Jewish community, including in Rafah, where Jews flourished for nearly 300 years until the arrival of the Crusaders in the 12th century.

Gaza also boasted its share of prominent rabbis who left a lasting imprint on Judaism. These include Rabbi Yisrael Najara, author of “Kah Ribbon Olam,” the popular hymn sung in Jewish homes around the world every Shabbat. He served as Gaza’s chief rabbi until his death in 1625, and he was buried in the city’s Jewish cemetery. Yes, Gaza had an ancient Jewish cemetery.

It is perhaps due to the Jewish people’s deep roots in Gaza that despite having been expelled from the Strip seven times over the past 2,000 years, they always sought to return. In 61 CE, the Romans evicted the Jews from Gaza, as did the Crusaders, Napoleon, the Ottoman Turks, the British Army in 1929, and the Egyptians in 1948.

After the Six-Day War, when Jews once again returned to Gaza, building flourishing communities that were subsequently demolished in 2005 as part of Israel’s withdrawal.

The very idea that Gaza, or anywhere else for that matter, should be off-limits to Jews is discriminatory and antisemitic, and there is no reason to deny Israelis who wish to resettle Gaza the right to do so.

By reviving Gazan Jewish communities, Israel can rewrite the reality on the ground and send a clear message to the Palestinians: The more you try to kill us, the more we will rebuild.

Sure, such a move will not be popular in the White House or at the United Nations, but nothing Israel does ever really is.

Regardless, full Israeli control over Gaza is the best guarantee that the strip of land along the Mediterranean will thrive, for both Jews and Arabs alike.

Michael Freund served as Deputy Communications Director under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.