The road through Gaza

SOME ISRAELIS protesting the planned pullout from Gaza settlements are using scare tactics that are too common in the Mideast. ''A Jew-free Gaza welcomes Al Qaeda," shouted one banner at a massive rally in Tel Aviv on Thursday. Even some political leaders who should know better are fanning the flames.

But to argue, as Benjamin Netanyahu did in resigning from the Cabinet, that disengagement from Gaza would create ''a giant base for terrorism" is to argue that there should never be a two-state solution to the conflict. Denying Palestinians a homeland has been counterproductive for both peoples. Denying them even the hope of a homeland would be a road map to war everlasting.

Another protest frequently voiced by the Israeli right is that the withdrawal, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, only rewards Palestinian militants for the second intifadah -- five years of attacks and other violent resistance to Israeli control. But this stance is backward-looking and self-defeating. It encourages Palestinian hard-liners to make the mirroring argument: that any moves toward a lasting peace by Palestinian leaders only reward Israel for its occupation. Taken together, these positions are also a prescription for eternal strife.

Any peace agreement must be based more on guaranteeing the future interests of both sides rather than on rectifying past transgressions. This is why the Gaza disengagement is so hopeful.

Begun as a unilateral move announced by Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the step has since attracted a level of coordination that is encouraging on its own terms. Israeli and Palestinian officials have agreed to work out of a joint operations center for the several weeks that the withdrawal is expected to take. In addition, the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has won a commitment from the militant group Hamas to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority during the pullout. Also, Egypt has agreed to have 750 of its police officers guard the border between Gaza and Israel instead of the Israeli Army.

Still, the enterprise is fragile. The degree to which some Israeli settlement dwellers and their supporters will resist eviction cannot be known in advance. And, while Hamas agreed to cooperate, it did not agree to disarm. Polls indicate that a majority of the public supports the pullout, but not by large margins.

While much of the world will be focused on Gaza in coming days, hoping for a peaceful withdrawal, even a successful disengagement will be only a first step. The settlements in the West Bank, which house 240,000 Israelis compared with Gaza's 8,500, remain a huge impediment, as does the status of Jerusalem, among other major issues. Their resolution will require even more cooperation -- between Israelis and Palestinians, but also from Arab neighbors, who can help provide security and economic aid, and from other world leaders.

The settlements have often been called facts on the ground. The withdrawal from Gaza, if successful, will be another important fact.