Imagine if the United States government rounded up and evicted over 600,000 Americans from their homes—entire families, towns, and farms—and handed the land to Mexican drug cartels in the name of “peace.”
That’s what Israel did, proportionally, when it withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Nearly 10,000 Jewish residents of Gaza—farmers, business owners, families who had lived there for generations—were forcibly removed from their homes by their own government.
Israelis were told that by giving up Gaza, they would get peace. Instead, Gaza became what Charlie Kirk called “a terrorist jacuzzi.”
“It has become a terrorist jacuzzi where they are now closer than ever to firing rockets at Tel Aviv, which you see recently they’re willing to do,” Charlie told an audience. “They build terror tunnels instead of schools and hospitals.”
He said that in 2019—four years before October 7th, when Hamas launched the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust, using Gaza as its base of operations.
Billions in Aid, No Schools—Only Rockets
Charlie often asked a simple question: Where did all the money go?
“I mean, Gaza is a small place, and they’re getting billions of dollars a year,” he said. “And where do those billions go? It doesn’t go for schools. It doesn’t go for hospitals. It goes to build terror tunnels. It goes for missiles. It goes for rockets.”
He was right. Gaza has received billions in foreign aid—from the United States, the European Union, the UN, and Qatar. But instead of becoming a thriving, self-sustaining society, it became a launchpad for jihad.
That’s why the Gaza disengagement was one of Charlie’s strongest criticisms of Israeli leadership. It was, he said, “one of the biggest mistakes that Israel has made.”
And while the world constantly talks about “Palestinian refugees,” Charlie pointed out that almost no one mentions the Jewish refugees forced out of Gaza.
“I had never heard the argument that Jews were pushed out of their own houses in Gaza,” he said. “We always hear about [Palestinian] refugees. That’s 5,000 Jewish refugees out of Gaza, right? 10,000, I stand corrected. 10,000 out of Gaza. That’s unbelievable. They had identity in the region, identity in their homes, and they were pushed out of there.”
These families were uprooted, their communities dismantled—and in return, Israel got terror and war.
Israel’s Land for Peace Strategy—A Record of Failure
The Gaza withdrawal wasn’t the first time Israel gave up land in exchange for peace. And every time, the result was the same: more violence, not less.
“Just so everyone’s clear,” Charlie told a student, “the reason why Gaza’s under Hamas control is that there was a peace deal that was signed. Israel got out of Gaza in the pursuit of peace. Israel gave up the Sinai in pursuit of peace. Israel gave up portions of the West Bank in pursuit of peace. Israel has actually decreased the land size of their nation significantly in the last 40 years. They have shrunk their country by nearly 75 percent since 1975 … They don’t teach you this in college. You can look it up. And yet we’ve had more conflict, more strife.”
The pattern speaks for itself:
- Camp David Accords (1978): Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. Palestinians responded with mass shootings and bombings that killed dozens of Israelis.
- Oslo Accords (1993–2000): Israel recognized the Palestinian Authority and withdrew from parts of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. Palestinians reacted with a wave of suicide bombings and mass shootings, killing hundreds of Israeli men, women, and children.
- Hebron Agreement & Wye River Memorandum (1997–1998): Israel ceded major portions of Hebron, Judea, and Samaria. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad responded with mass shootings and bus bombings.
- Second Intifada (2000–2005): After Israel offered to give up 97% of Judea and Samaria, Palestinians launched a campaign of suicide bombings that killed over 1,000 Israelis.
- Gaza Disengagement (2005): Israel withdrew completely from Gaza. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas responded with rockets, kidnappings, killings, and, ultimately, the October 7th massacre.
“Tell me one situation where Israel has not come to the table,” Charlie challenged a student. “Israel has given up land. When was the last time the Palestinian Authority willingly gave up land for peace? Never. Because they don’t want peace. They want dead Jews. And we as Americans should never put up with the intentional extermination of Jews again in our country.”
Peace Through Strength
Charlie Kirk’s perspective on Gaza was clear: peace doesn’t come from retreat—it comes from strength.
Israel’s leadership made a strategic and moral mistake in believing that giving up land would buy goodwill. This is particularly true in the Islam-dominated Middle East, where concessions are viewed not as compassion but as weakness. Not only did Israel display weakness—it handed Hamas a base of operations. Gaza became proof that appeasement doesn’t bring peace. It invites war. Charlie believed real peace only comes through strength, moral clarity, and the courage to stand unapologetically for what is right—even when the world demands surrender.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siaugYaqhmA
