If you will it, it is no dream

I realize the truce is already in effect between Israel and Hamas, and like most, I have doubts about its alleged longevity. But perhaps it’s already a little too late, and the ongoing passivity and general incompetence of the Kadima government to protect Israeli civilians has now reached a tipping point of sorts. Jerusalem Post:

A student from the Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva built a crude rocket and fired it from a nearby hill at a Palestinian village in the West Bank, security officials said Friday. No one was wounded. Among those suspected of involvement in the incident was the yeshiva's head, Rabbi Itzik Shapira, the Ma'ariv newspaper reported.

Members of the 'rocket launching cell' reportedly tried to cover up their actions, and several minutes after they fired the rocket they told residents of the Yitzhar settlement, where the seminary is situated, that an experiment was being carried out and not to be alarmed when they heard an explosion.

The rocket - which consisted of a launching device, a pipe and explosives - landed in an open area between Yitzhar and the Palestinian village, meters away from a Breslov Hasid, who happened to be praying there. After the loud explosion, a large number of IDF soldiers arrived at the scene, concerned that a terror attack had been perpetrated. However, the troops discovered that the rocket had been fired from the Yitzhar area and not from Palestinian territory.

When the IDF Central Command was informed that the rocket had been fired by Jews, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Judea and Samaria Police opened an investigation. Police spokesman Danny Poleg said Friday that detectives searched Yitzhar and questioned residents but made no arrests. Ma'ariv said that the student allegedly learned how to make the rocket on the Internet. Detectives were trying to find out who provided the explosives and who else was involved in the incident.

Then of course, this was the latest civilian protest against the course of action the Kadima government undertook to provide humanitarian supplies to the Palestinian population under the Hamas run Gaza Strip while Israeli civilians remained under fire from said Palestinians. These protests have been ongoing since February. Ynet News:

More than 100 farmers from Gaza-vicinity communities rally near Sufa crossing in attempt to block transporting of goods from Israel into Strip to protest ongoing rocket fire (06.15.08)

Not convinced? How about this – Ynet News:

Hundreds of residents from Israeli communities suffering from Gaza rocket barrages have launched a campaign to actively oppose what they call the State's 'disengagement' from the western Negev. Their first order of business was staging a tax strike.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday that those behind the initiative seek to protest the government's inaction in the face of daily attacks from Palestinian terror groups. The residents fear the situation may continue to escalate despite the ceasefire agreement.

"We are not the one's breaking away from the State, it is the government that has led us to this," said members of 'The Parliament' – a group of over 20 residents of communities in the western Negev who have come to lead the protest. The group includes, among others, Ofer Lieberman from Nir Am, Ofir Lipstein and Eyal Kedoshim from Kfar Aza and Nir Brouda from Miflasim. Kedoshim came to prominence following the death of his father, Jimmy, from a mortar shell several weeks ago. "As far as we are concerned, there is no tahadiya (truce). We will continue our fight according to plan," they said.

The group has erected protest tents at the Nir Am and Magen junctions and hundreds come there nightly to support their cause, primarily residents from Sderot and neighboring Gaza-vicinity communities. The protest is being held under a banner calling for the region to break away from Israel and form an independent 'Western Negev State.'

Who would have thought that Arab refusal to recognize Israel as the national homeland for the Jews would potentially be a tipping point to launch another Jewish state? But why stop at the establishment of the Western Negev State – how far long before there are calls to demand the establishment of the state of Judea in the disputed territories?

Take a look at the comment section of the Ynet article. The Israeli commenters were overwhelmingly in favor of establishing the Western Negev State the last time I checked. And for all who presume to think the establishment of a second or even third Jewish state is nothing more than hogwash - I leave you with the words of Theodore Hertlz – the father of modern secular Zionist -

If you will it, it is no dream.