PORTFOLIO | NEWS | PULL OUT OF GAZA

On August 15, 2005 the Israeli government's Disengagement Plan went into effect for the evacuation of Israeli citizens from the 21 settlements of the Gaza Strip and four settlements in northern Samaria.

Most of the population of these settlements refused to leave willingly, which compelled the security forces to carry out a wide-scale evacuation campaign, in which some 70,000 policemen and soldiers participated. This was the largest and most complicated military operation conducted by Israel in peacetime since the state was established.

The slogan that accompanied the period of disengagement was "with sensitivity and determination" – a motto coined by OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Dan Harel, when asked in a television interview about how the evacuation would be carried out. Thus it is no coincidence that this slogan was adopted as the name for this exhibition. The combination of "sensitivity" with "determination" – though ostensibly slightly absurd and nonsensical – actually found precise expression at every moment, in every place, and in all situations of the evacuation.