"Therefore, in the post-disengagement era Israel needs to rehabilitate its deterrence capabilities. That requires making enemy attacks prohibitively costly, especially to the terrorist chieftains who orchestrate them. The goal is not only to halt strikes against the Negev, but to make the Palestinians think twice before turning the West Bank into a launching pad against Israel. The international community should realize that the road map cannot move forward while Israel is under attack and that if the PA won't take action, Israel will."
Editorial
Jerusalem Post - Sept. 25, 2005
The Israeli response to the fusillade of Kassam rockets targeting border communities in the northwestern Negev, including Sderot, from the Palestinian Authority-controlled Gaza Strip must be hard-nosed and unremitting.
That's what the security cabinet decided late Saturday night. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the security forces to use "all means" to stop the attacks. Unprecedented use of artillery against the missile launchers has been approved. And on Sunday the IDF fired artillery salvoes into open areas in the Strip to calibrate the big guns and to transmit a clear deterrent message that more terrorist shelling would bring a heavy response.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the air force to embark on an all-out continuous offensive, "Operation First Rain," against Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, focusing on the cells that fire the Kassam rockets. The cabinet also endorsed Mofaz's plan for buffer zones inside the northern Gaza Strip to distance the rocket launchers from Israeli population centers.
Security forces launched a massive sweep against wanted terrorist suspects in Judea and Samaria and arrested 207 Hamas and Islamic Jihad members, including several of their top leaders. The police imposed a high alert to thwart any terror attack attempts.
These are measures already instituted; now it remains to be seen if they are sufficient to induce Hamas to cool down. Deterrence requires that the other side believes that it's not worthwhile to continue a particular course of action. However, there is a fine line between a response strong enough to deter Hamas and excessive action that might lead to further deterioration. One recalls the IDF artillery strike against Hizbullah in southern Lebanon that resulted in unfortunate civilian casualties.
There is a broad consensus in Israel that the communities on the Gaza border cannot continue to be subjected to the whims of the Kassam rocketeers who targeted the area with some 40 rockets over the weekend. The consensus also supports targeted killings against genuine ticking bombs – those on their way to attack us. On Saturday, in the midst of the Kassam barrages, an air force missile strike killed four Hamas terrorists, some of whom had been involved in Kassam and shooting attacks. In another precision attack on Sunday night the IAF killed a top Islamic Jihad terrorist in Gaza.
What is at stake goes beyond the weekend's litany of Palestinian violence which began when an Islamic Jihad plan to carry out a terrorist attack somewhere in Israel was thwarted when the IDF killed three of those involved outside Tulkarm.
What is at stake is whether Israel's withdrawal from Gaza leads to a reduction in tension and the bolstering of a viable Palestinian entity with whom it is possible to discuss conflict management, or whether disengagement is seen as flight under fire and leads to Palestinian rejectionists using violence against Israel whenever internal Palestinian politics dictate.
On Friday, when explosives used in the course of an illegal (by Palestinian Authority criteria) Hamas rally detonated killing 19 people, Hamas refused to take responsibility for the homicidal negligence and instead blamed Israel. Though Israel made it clear the IDF had nothing to do with the attack, and despite the fact that the PA blamed Hamas, the rejectionist group decided to cover up its carelessness by launching a Kassam barrage.
The issue runs even deeper. IDF Chief of General Staff Dan Halutz implied recently that Hamas was working on a Kassam with a range of 15 km. Such a rocket would be capable of hitting the city of Ashkelon with ease. Its arrival in the West Bank would be catastrophic, placing the country's major population centers and even its main airport within the range of enemy rockets.
The real problem is the feebleness of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who has neither the stomach nor the ability to rein in the rejectionists.
Therefore, in the post-disengagement era Israel needs to rehabilitate its deterrence capabilities. That requires making enemy attacks prohibitively costly, especially to the terrorist chieftains who orchestrate them. The goal is not only to halt strikes against the Negev, but to make the Palestinians think twice before turning the West Bank into a launching pad against Israel.
The international community should realize that the road map cannot move forward while Israel is under attack and that if the PA won't take action, Israel will.
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