Calev Ben-David Click photo for larger image.

As former managing editor of the Jerusalem Post, Calev Ben-David covered Israel for more than 20 years. He is now director of The Israel Project, Israel Office. The Israel Project is a nonprofit organization devoted to educating the press and public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. Ben-David continues to write a column for the Post. He was born in New York and graduated from New York University with a B.A. in Fine Arts in 1982, moving to Israel in 1985, where he lives today.

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Was settling Gaza in the first place a mistake?

I wouldn't say that. It depends first of all on your political view. It was settled at the time when Israel still held onto the Sinai Peninsula and there was the strategic intention to secure the coast line, there along the border with Egypt. But I think in retrospect it was unwise to settle Israelis in such a densely populated Palestinian area. That's the difference between the Gaza settlements and the West Bank settlements.

Now that Gaza is evacuated, what's next?

Well listen, from an Israeli perspective, lets see what the Palestinians do with Gaza. I mean the occupation of Gaza is at an end. There is really now no excuse for the Palestinians to not try to establish the rule of law in Gaza, or for the Palestinian Authority to exert security control and disarm some of the radical terror groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Also, following up on President Bush's initiative in the Middle East, a chance for building some kind of civil society in Gaza, so that kids there will grow up wanting to be doctors and lawyers instead of suicide bombers.

So Israel is showing good faith with the pullout?

Yes, Israel is showing good faith -- not to the Palestinians necessarily, because, again, the feeling is they haven't lived up to the commitments [of the "Road Map to Peace"]. But Israel is showing good faith to the international community, especially to the United States. I think what Sharon's tactic is, is to jump-start the peace process. We took one step forward without waiting for the Palestinians, now lets see the Palestinians rise up to meet that. Then we will continue onward, hopefully, with the "Road Map."

Has anti-Semitism outside of the Middle East decreased or increased?

You know, these are long-term trends. We saw, especially in Europe, a rise in anti-Semitism in recent years. We are very concerned with media coverage of Israel, because we feel some of the negative and, to some degree, biased coverage of Israel has led to an increase in anti-Semitism abroad. One of the goals of the Israel Project is to try to get ... not a positive picture, but a fairer picture of Israel in the hopes that it would lessen anti-Semitism. But there are other factors, too, which [include] the rise in Islamic fundamentalism. The press coverage of this disengagement, especially in Europe and France, which is very negative to Israel, has been much more positive.

Where are the extreme moderates?

Let me say there are extremists in Israeli society, too. And we have had some serious incidents by individuals who were violent. But these tend to be more isolated incidences. It was quite interesting that the evacuation from Gaza, even as bad as some of the pictures looked, went more peacefully than some of the people anticipated. The public supported Sharon and his decision, which was achieved through the democratic process. In terms of Israeli society, I do think the withdrawal from Gaza was a triumph of the moderates. No question about it. Now what we are hoping is that this triumph of the moderate element in Israeli society will lead to strengthening the moderate sector in Palestinian society.

How sensitive to the rights of Palestinians are most Israelis?

They are sensitive to the rights of Palestinians. There has been a real revolution in Israel. The majority of Israelis now support the establishment of a Palestinian state, which was not always accepted in Israeli society. The territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea should be split in some degree in two -- between an Israeli and a Palestinian state. Perhaps if Yasser Arafat had been a better leader of his people the broader issues might have been resolved at Camp David. As long as Israelis feel [the Palestinian state] will not be hostile -- a state that will live in peace -- then I think Israelis are prepared to make tremendous concessions and basically grant the Palestinians full sovereignty.