And Hamas getting elected – even better.

Israel finally has an honest enemy. When Hamas attacks they now have a well defined return address.

Add in the ongoing Pali civil war now in the open and I’d say the retreat was worth it.

I think it is a mistake, because it encourages Hamas. It will allow them to claim victory, and move their rockets closer to Israeli territory.

I think that Sharon judged correctly the type of support he’d get from the US. (Just look what Rice and Wolfensohn did in Gaza)
So he became pragmatic about borders and the logistics and cost of securing Israelis scattered about.
What Olmert is doing is carrying on Sharon’s plan and that means looking at the bigger picture of Hezbollah on the northern border and Iran and not just the Palestinians.

By the way judge it for what it’s worth but it seems that the “Little King’s” son is also not so reliable:
Warfare by Other Means

Israel’s security fence in the West Bank has dramatically reduced Palestinian terror attacks. At the same time, it has generated controversy concerning water and property rights, access to churches, monasteries and schools, and property confiscation without compensation. Abdullah hopes to exploit the situation to manipulate Catholic opinion worldwide against Israel.

So there we have it. Israel is to blame no matter what.
Hamas will do what it wants to because it knows that Israel has its hands tied no matter if they were still in Gaza, and easier to make them bleed by attrition, and Hebron and places.
By the way did you know that China had the PA forbid a visit by the Dalai Lama to Bethlehem?

Dear Hamas, Eretz Israel is sacred Jewish land given by the Lord to the Children of Israel, since a time more than two millenia before Muhammed ate that funny-looking mushroom or whatever it was that made him see the Archangel. Get off the Jews’ land. You can go back to Hijaz where you Muslims came from originally, prior to your bouts of unprovoked imperialist aggression.

Oops, no you can’t. Your “Arab Brothers” in the Wahhabist Entity say you can’t become subjects of the Saudi King because your only worth to your “Arab Brothers” is as cannon fodder for their hoped for genocide against the Jews. If you ever accomplished that (the Lord forbid) you would become expendable and your “Arab Brothers” would massacre you Palis in the course of arguing over which Arab tyrant got to misgovern the Levant.

If you Palis had the brains the Lord gave a cherrystone clam you’d make peace with the Israelis and live at peace with them. But you are dumber than a mollusk without a brain.