Comptroller: Gov't bungled Gaza pullout

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Government authorities were not fully prepared for the summer's Gaza Strip evacuation, causing unnecessary damage and suffering to the evacuees, according to a comptroller's report made public after midnight last night.

The report found "serious failures" in the way the Disengagement Administration (known by its Hebrew acronym, SELA), Finance Ministry and Prime Minister's Office handled the disengagement.

Lindenstrauss also criticized the government's mistaken assessment of how much temporary housing would be necessary. Until a short time before the evacuation, the government had booked only 1,800 rooms in which the evacuees could stay, and was forced to book an additional 1,000 rooms as the evacuation was under way. The evacuees ended up dispersed in 31 hotels, yeshivas and seminaries across the country, which made it difficult for the Disengagement Administration workers to reach them.

In addition, the Prime Minister's Office had assumed that the evacuees would not stay in the temporary housing for longer than 14 days. However, 40 percent of the evacuated families were still living in hotels three months after the pullout.

Haaretz