November 19, 2012
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4353
The Jewish state was created to
overcome powerlessness and provide a haven for Jews - not to have them
cringing in shelters. There had previously been considerable criticism
of the government for its failure to adequately respond to the ongoing
toll inflicted on over a million Israeli citizens obliged to endure
thousands of missiles launched against them at the whim of a loathsome
neighboring terrorist state. We had tired of hearing successive Israeli
leaders repeatedly expressing empty threats and chanting the mantra
“this is intolerable and unacceptable and must stop”.
Hamas is no longer a terrorist
faction. It is in every respect an independent state the majority of
whose citizens enthusiastically support the terrorist initiatives and
missile launches initiated by its evil leaders committed to our
annihilation.
The situation deteriorated with
the advent to power in Egypt of the Moslem Brotherhood, the creators of
Hamas. Since then, the Egyptian authorities stood by as Hamas
accumulated vast quantities of sophisticated missiles and other lethal
weapons including guided antitank missiles and shoulder mounted
antiaircraft weapons from Iran, Libya, Sudan and other states.
That explains why despite awareness that Operation Amud Annan - “Pillar
of Defense” may escalate into full-scale war, all sections of Israeli
society fervently support the IDF operation. It is also gratifying that
Jews throughout the world are actively demonstrating solidarity with
Israel.
Hamas was emboldened into
testing our resolve, believing that Israel would be fearful of
confronting the new Egyptian regime and also encouraged by the active
support from the Turkish government and the recent visit to Gaza of the
emir of Qatar who contributed $400 million to their coffers.
Israel was indeed sensitive to
these issues as well as the effect of a military conflict diverting
attention from Iran – especially now as it proceeds with its uranium
enrichment. There was also concern at the civil war in Syria and the
dramatic rise of Islamic extremism throughout the region. To top it off
there were inhibitions because of the US presidential elections.
Nevertheless, Hamas
miscalculated. By intensifying the bombardment of the South, it obliged
the state of Israel to respond harshly or forfeit any modicum of
deterrence.
The initial outcome was good.
The IDF had clearly learned from the lessons of previous wars;
intelligence was impeccable; action was systematic and rational with to
date, minimal civilian casualties.
It must be stressed that the
targeted killings of terrorist leaders are not acts of revenge or a
display of showmanship. They are logical military actions which can be
rationally justified in moral terms. The killing of Al Ja’abari,
regarded as the Palestinian counterpart of Bin Laden, is a prime
example. Unlike US drone attacks on Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the IDF
succeeded in avoiding collateral casualties.
The global response from most
Western countries which followed President Obama’s lead condemning the
rocket attacks and endorsing Israel’s right to self-defense, was until
now satisfactory, despite the usual calls for restraint and for Israel
to act in a “proportionate” manner.
But these are early days.
Initially, we are unlikely to face problems at the UN Security Council.
However, the General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council, controlled by
Islamic and other anti-Israeli coalitions, have consistently viewed
Israel as the aggressor and never the victim. Neither of these bodies
has even once condemned the Hamas missile attacks and there is little
doubt that they and NGO bodies such as Amnesty International will blame
Israel exclusively for reigniting the armed conflict.
In addition, whilst the IDF is
taking extraordinary precautions to minimize civilian casualties, there
will invariably, as in any military conflict, be mishaps – especially in
Gaza where Hamas ruthlessly employ human shields by locating armaments
and launching missiles in civilian residential areas. In addition, our
enemies have already circulated bogus images of Palestinian civilian
casualties, highlighting infants allegedly killed by Israel. As in the
past, these gruesome images will be exploited to pressure Israel to back
down.
And whilst the Iron Dome
anti-rocket shield has been highly successful in largely protecting the
major Israeli cities, there have already been tragic casualties and
regrettably more are likely if hostilities continue to escalate and
impact on the home front.
Clearly, the IDF would prefer to
limit the conflict to pinpointed aerial strikes. However, if Hamas
continue raining rockets against Israeli civilians, Israel will be
forced into a ground offensive in which greater casualties are
inevitable.
The main challenge for the
government is to devise an end strategy to achieve long term deterrence
as well as a strategy to be implemented instantly should Hamas become
sufficiently re-emboldened to recommence missile launches.
Israel has no desire to return
to the era of the tit-for-tat war of attrition whereby we respond to
missile launches by bombing rocket launching sites, and empty buildings.
Although some of our allies are
already urging us not to respond “disproportionately”, such a concept
has absolutely no relevance to the threat facing Israel. Whilst still
seeking to minimize civilian casualties, we must create genuine
deterrence in order to avoid future full-scale conflicts of ever
increasing magnitude. In fact, a disproportionate response to aggression
is fully consistent with international law in which the prime
obligation of the state is to protect its civilians. Those seeking to
deny us this basic right are maliciously hypocritical.
The issue of Israel continuing
to provide Hamas-controlled Gaza with services is another bizarre
anomaly. It is one thing to be sensitive to the humanitarian needs of
civilian noncombatants, but to continue providing electricity and other
utilities to a neighboring state raining missiles against us is utterly
perverse. If the lights went out automatically every time a rocket was
dispatched, the inconvenienced Gaza residents might even influence their
leaders to hesitate before launching missiles.
An intensive government campaign
must be implemented to counter the impact of successive years of the
world having become conditioned to regarding Israel under missile
attacks as a normative way of life. We must highlight the fact that such
attacks against civilians are unequivocally war crimes. Would the US
respond “proportionately” if 50 million Americans were under missile
attack from Mexico or Canada for a decade? Or if France faced such
bombardment from Belgium or Luxemburg? No other state in the world would
tolerate this and we must demonstrate that a policy of “restraint”, far
from reflecting strength, displays weakness and emboldens our evil
neighbors to intensify their attacks.
We must recognize that in future
conflicts, the terrorists will continue accumulating more effective and
lethal weapons to employ against us. We must therefore endeavor to
resist calls for a cease-fire until such time as Hamas, in conjunction
with the Egyptians, undertake to cease their aggression. There must be a
clear understanding that any breach would result in harsh
“disproportionate” Israeli responses including the targeted killings of
those responsible for initiating attacks. In the absence of such an
agreement an enforced cease fire will be perceived as a major victory
for Hamas and our citizens will simply return to the life of terror they
endured since the first Kassams were launched a decade ago.
The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com.He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom
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