The Jerusalem Post today reports that Israel's Cabinet, by a vote of 14-2, has decided not to destroy the buildings in the Gaza Strip that had been used as synagogues. Even though Israel's High Court of Justice ruled that Israel could destroy the buildings as part of its disengagement from Gaza, significant opposition to the plan arose from rabbis within Israel as well as from Jewish communities outside of Israel who argued that the plan would encourage destruction of synagogues elsewhere in the world. (See prior posting ). The Palestinian Authority is not happy about the decision to leave the buildings standing, since the fear the bad publicity if they are not be able to prevent radical Palestinians from destroying the buildings. One Israeli official said that the buildings, from which all contents have been removed, might be sealed with cement to prevent their destruction.
UPDATE: On Monday morning, Aljazeera reported that Palestinians set fire to 3 abandoned Gaza synagogues as Israeli troops left the area. A synagouge in Netzarim was bulldozed after a group of youths burned it down.
