As readers of this column might have gathered from the Jerusalem dateline, I spent some time in Israel last week. The conversations were dominated by debate over the Gaza pullout, of course, and whether it was a mistake. I thought a little differently after hearing each person I listened to. I think my bottom-line is that it was a mistake, but one worth making. It was a mistake because it has allowed Hamas to create an Islamifying infrastructure that it wouldn’t have been able to absent the pull-out. Apparently the differences between the West Bank and Gaza, in terms of people’s attitudes and the fabric of society, are getting starker. So here’s a paradox: the West Bank is more moderate partly as a function of the Israeli occupation. People are beginning to talk more of Gaza and the West Bank eventually splitting up, so the ultimate answer to the problem might be a three-state solution.

In any case, I think Israel was right to make the decision to pull-out because occupying an alien population is a morally problematic endeavor; the Palestinians deserved a chance to govern themselves; there was a clear up-side in terms of international opinion; it was a new idea that created the potential for a break-through in Israeli-Palestinian relations. It hasn’t worked out so well, of course, mostly because the balance of Palestinian opinion opposes the existence of Israel. But even now–with Gilad still missing and the Kassam rockets flying–no one is talking of Israel permanently re-occupying Gaza. But a similar pull-out from the West Bank appears to be a total non-starter. Israel is in for more of a long, difficult haul with its immediate neighbors, and there is no escape, including through unilateral disengagement.