PM Ariel Sharon, Architect of Gaza Withdrawal Peace Initiative, Suffers Significant Stroke; Powers Transferred to Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has suffered a stroke, the second one in less than three weeks, according to hospital officials. He was rushed to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital Wednesday afternoon.

Sharon's duties have been transferred to Vice Prime MInister Ehud Olmert for the next 100 days. For biographical information about Olmert, please visit http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/2000_2009/2003/3/Ehud+Olmert.htm .

PM Sharon recently broke from Likud Party which he helped found in order to create a new centrist party called Kadima (Hebrew for "forward"). All Israeli polls show that Kadima has a strong lead in the minds of Israeli voters.
 
PM Sharon is best known as the architect and implementer of Israel's dramatic withdrawal from Gaza this summer. Below are facts on that painful sacrifice that Israel made in hopes of peace. In addition to the Gaza peace initiative, PM Sharon has been a leading proponent of Israel's defensive security barrier  which has saved countless innocent lives.
 
For more information call Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder & president of The Israel Project at 202-365-0787.

Israel’s 2005 Disengagement Initiative: Numbers to Know

In May 1967, the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria - with backing from several other Arab countries - amassed on Israel’s borders in a bid to wipe out Israel. In response, Israel launched a pre-emptive attack and unexpectedly gained control over land including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israel later gave up about 90 percent of the territory it captured when, to make peace with Egypt, Israel evacuated the Sinai Peninsula.¹

After numerous fruitless bids to find a partner for peace with the Palestinians, in August 2005 Israel carried out its disengagement initiative. Israel handed over all of Gaza and part of the West Bank to the Palestinians, making it the first country in modern history to give up land acquired in a defensive war.

During this summer’s pullout:

• 100% of the Gaza Strip was evacuated and handed over to the Palestinians. ²
• 300 square miles of the West Bank were evacuated. ³
• 21 Israeli settlements were uprooted in the Gaza Strip.²
• 4 Israeli settlements were uprooted in the West Bank. ²
• 48 graves in the Gush Katif Cemetery, including six graves of area residents murdered by terrorists, were uprooted. ^{4 5}
• 9,000 is the approximate number of Israelis, including 1,700 Israeli families, that resided in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank. All of them were moved out as part of the withdrawal. ⁴
• 38 synagogues were dismantled in the Gaza Strip. ⁶
• 5,000 school-age children   had to find new schools. ⁷
• 42 daycare centers were closed in the Gaza Strip. ⁶
• 36 kindergartens were closed in the Gaza Strip. ⁶
• 7 elementary schools were closed in the Gaza Strip. ⁶
• 3 high schools were closed in the Gaza Strip. ⁷
• 320 mobile homes, ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, served as temporary housing for settlers, with approximately 300 additional mobile homes to be ordered in the future. ⁷
• 45,000 Israeli soldiers and policemen participated in the Gaza withdrawal. ⁸
• $1.7 billion was the approximate cost to the Israeli government for the withdrawal initiative. ⁹
• 166 active Israeli farmers were moved out of Gaza. ¹⁰
• 800 cows, which comprised the second largest dairy farm in Israel, were moved out of Gush Katif. ¹¹
• $120 million in flowers and produce exported annually from Gush Katif were lost. ¹²
• 1 zoo, the “Katifari,” that housed hundreds of animals was moved. ¹³
• 10,000 people employed in agriculture and related industries in Gush Katif, including 5,000 Palestinians, are in need of new employment. ¹²
• 60% of Israel's cherry tomato exports came from the Gaza Strip. Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza extinguished this economic resource.  ¹²
• 3.5 million square meters (almost 1,000 acres) of greenhouses were abandoned in Gaza. ¹²
• 70% of Israel's organic produce was produced in Gaza. This was another economic resource that was lost. ¹²
• 60% of the herbs exported from Israel came from Gush Katif. ¹²
• 15% of Israel's agricultural exports originated in Gaza – exports that were lost following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. ¹²
• $360,000 was the approximate average compensation amount Israel expected to pay to relocate each family. ³
• $870 million was the approximate cost for Israel to facilitate the resettlement of former West Bank and Gaza residents elsewhere in the country. ³
• $500 million was the amount of money Israel’s security establishment spent in order to relocate Israel Defense Forces bases outside the Gaza Strip and build new border crossing facilities. ³

After the withdrawal:

• 430,000 West Bank Palestinians are able to move freely within and between Palestinian controlled areas. ³
• 0 Israelis, dead or alive, remained in Gaza. ²
• 1.2 million Arabs remained full and legal citizens of Israel. All Israeli citizens – Christians, Muslims, and Jews – have freedom of speech, religion, press, and the right to vote.  ¹⁴
• 1.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, many of them in Palestinian Authority-controlled refugee camps, live under their own leaders. ³
• 820,000 Jewish refugees, forced to flee without their belongings from Arab countries between 1947 and 1949, still have no compensation for their losses from Arab governments. ¹⁵
• 650,000 Arab refugees who left Israel between 1947 and 1949 still need Palestinian leaders who will end terrorism and the culture of hate. ¹⁵
• Israel’s withdrawal from four northern West Bank settlements created an area more than twice the size of Gaza’s 140 square miles under Palestinian control and devoid of any Israeli presence. ³

The Israel Project is a new national non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. It was started by three mothers who became concerned that negative images about Israel in the media were endangering the future of children who want to live in a world free of the anti-Semitism faced by generations before them. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel. For more information, visit www.theisraelproject.org.

Sources:

1. Kescher, Doron, Israeli Insider “Journalistic Shields,” June 21, 2004.
2. Israeli Cabinet Resolution Regarding the Disengagement Plan, June 6, 2004
3.  “Israel’s Disengagement Plan,” American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Feb. 9, 2005
4. “Rabbi rules Gaza graves must be moved; ZAKA refuses to lend a helping hand,” Israeli Insider, May 4, 2005
5. Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, July 7, 2005
6. Interview with Dror Vanunu, Head of Public Relations for Gush Katif, June 15, 2005
7. “Engaging Disengagement,” The Jewish Agency for Israel, Department for Jewish Zionist Education, June 20, 2005
8. Plushnick-Masti, Ramit, “Israel to use 45,000 troops in Gaza, West Bank pullout,” Detroit Free Press, July 6, 2005
9. Klein, Zeev, “Haber: HCJ ruling will raise disengagement cost to NIS 500m,” Globes: Israel’s Business Arena, June 5, 2005
10. Arrow, Minda Lee, “Gaza settler relocation: new progress, ongoing complications,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, June 15, 2005
11. Lazaroff, Tovah, “Gush Katif dairy farmer has sleepless nights over cow remo(o)val” Jerusalem Post, May 3, 2005
12. Stahl, Julie, “Gaza farmers say government has no plan for them,” Cybercast News Service, April 11, 2005
13. Ettinger, Yair, “Even the animals won’t leave Gaza early,” Haaretz newspaper, June 21, 2005
14. “Israel,” Freedom House, July 6, 2005
15. Radler, David, “Refugees forever?” Jerusalem Post, July 6, 2005

Board of Advisors: Senator Evan Bayh (IN), Senator Saxby Chambliss (GA), Senator Norm Coleman (MN), Senator Ben Nelson (NB), Senator Rick Santorum (PA), Senator Arlen Specter (PA), Senator Ron Wyden (OR), Congressman Rob Andrews (NJ), Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (NV), Congressman Tom Davis (VA), Congressman Eliot Engel (NY), Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ), Congressman Jon Porter (NV), Congressman Jim Saxton (NJ), Congressman Brad Sherman (CA), Congressman Joe Wilson (SC), Actor and Director Ron Silver