Monday, January 29, 2007

When is a ceasefire not a ceasefire?

It’s hard not to believe that the Olmert/Kadima administration is far more concerned with strengthening and propping up the Palestinian Authority Chairman than protecting the lives of Israelis. Think that’s a little harsh? In the interest of perspective I would bring your attention to this report carried by Arutz Sheva:
Two Kassam rockets were fired at Israeli cities from Gaza Sunday night – one toward Sderot and the other toward Ashkelon. No injuries were reported. The rockets were fired by the Islamic Jihad terror group, which has been largely standing on the sidelines as Fatah and Hamas battle it out in the streets of Gaza. Islamic Jihad’s statement taking credit for the rockets called upon all Arab factions to unite toward the common goal of killing Jews.

I was keeping track of the number of kassam attacks launched by the Palestinians into Israel since the ceasefire. By the end of December my tally was 62. After that point, I realized the only defense the Olmert Administration was capable of launching or keeping up was denial. It seems pointless to keep a tally in order to see which number would finally force the Olmert administration to act in defense of Israelis. If the government hasn’t acted by 62; then 100 or 1000 rockets later are completely irrelevant in the face of this type of willful denial.

6 comments:

Michael said...

If the government hasn’t acted by 62; then 100 or 1000 rockets later are completely irrelevant in the face of this type of willful denial.

Exactly. Olmert's got to go, and soon. And for every rocket fired, or bomber sent, the army needs to lob over a few 2000pd bombs, or 155mm artillery shells into Gaza City, at random, and let the palys feel what its like to live in Sderot.

It's too bad that won't actually happen.

K. Shoshana said...

But its just not Olmert. Never seen a better example of a house that needed a clean sweep.

Personally, if I was the PM of Israel, I would start a series of black covert programs. Say, like giving Sderot civilians missiles on the sly and tell them to let them fly every time a kassam cruises into Israel. Publicly, I would denounce such actions and blame it on military theft. I would make a lot of noise threatening to get to the bottom of it and apply the full extent of the law to those outlaws - wink, wink, nudge, nudge. And when the PA whines (which is inevitable)I'd tell the PA, I feel your pain, I really do but blame the whole mess on a bunch of Yiddish cowboys running amuck and ask what can you do? You know how it is.

All of which is a good thing I am not the Israeli PM - I could never surpress my inner Russian.

Michael said...

The trouble with your idea, Kate, is that the civilized world wouldn't see the irony and would condemn Israel. Painfully.

Better, I think, to make it official, shed some real blood to punish the palis, and say that's the new policy.

We'll still get the condemnation, but we'll be showing a pair, and that gets respect.

Also, it will let the palis know that they can't get away with it anymore.

K. Shoshana said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
K. Shoshana said...

Michael, what am I going to do with you? It doesn't matter what Israel does or doesn't do - Israel will still be condemned and soundly.

Even if Israel announced tomorrow that the state is to be dismantled and turned over to the palestinians with the Jews dispursed around the world, the would condemn Israel for waiting so long to do it. Don't forget that 10 years ago no one would have whispered that the founding of Israel was a mistake. Now its a talking point at the EU.

Remember the Iraqi nuclear reactor. Israel bombed the reactor, and the world condemnation followed but in the end, what did it really matter? The world is/was a better place for it. You would be hard pressed to find anyone today who wouldn't say its a good thing Israel did it.

Better to be condemned for failing to capture a few yahoos running a muck than doing the slow bleed. Blame the settlers, everyone hates settlers (well, except probably me) and it doesn't matter that there are no settlers in Sderot, the world is too dense to figure that out. And even if someone figured out there are no settlers in Sderot, import some. It's all for show. Maybe a rumour can be spread that the Mossad is actively recruiting religious settlers?

Michael said...

Israel bombed the reactor, and the world condemnation followed but in the end, what did it really matter? The world is/was a better place for it.

And that is why Israel should simply beat the crap out of the palis (Hezbollah, too, for that matter), take the political lumps, and hunker down for a while.

The US gov't will be secretly glad that someone finally did it, the Arab states won't go to war for the palis because they hate them, too (look at the persecution of palis in Iraq, now that Saddam is gone), and, as you said, Europe condemns us anyway.

So what's to lose? And this way, we don't have let our individual citizens reduce themselves to the terrorists' level.