Monday, August 22, 2011

"Hit Gaza Strip Hard, Now"

Hit Gaza Strip hard, now

Self-declared leftist Yakir Elkariv says Israel must pound Gaza terrorists, without apologies
Yakir Elkariv
Published: 08.22.11, 00:14 / Israel Opinion

Even if you turn Israel upside down and shake it up, you won’t find a worse leftist than me. If it depended on me, in the framework of an agreement with the Palestinians they would get a state with east Jerusalem as its capital, and a few more gestures “on the house.” Peace is not a favor we’re doing someone, but rather, the most genuine guarantee for the continued existence of the Zionist enterprise, or what we refer to as “home.”

Israel and Palestinians
Abbas deserves no state / Avi Dichter
Op-ed: World should be greatly concerned by Palestinian leaders’ silence over terror offensive
Full Story
All of the above is true on normal days – when everyone makes an effort to behave like adults. Yet until this happens, we cannot allow the wellbeing and security of hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens – southern residents in this case – to hinge on the caprices of some member of some resistance committee that convenes at some cave or tunnel somewhere in Gaza.

If the abovementioned killer wakes up in the morning and decides to fire a missile or launch an attack on Israel, it’s our duty to ensure that he and his gang will not be seeing the sunset that day.

During the tent protest, top security officials raised a hue and cry when it appeared that a threat hovers above their holy budget. We paid more than NIS 55 billion (roughly $16 billion) in the last fiscal year in order to maintain this immense defense establishment, yet a bunch of Muslims with cheap Kalashnikovs and slightly more expensive Grad rockets are still dictating our national agenda and sending Beersheba and Ashdod residents into bomb shelters?

Israel won’t forgive or forget

The operation in Gaza should have started yesterday, or the day before, and it should be conducted like an operation that a modern army, which utilizes satellites and drones, can execute in the 21st Century. Not by spraying the Strip with bullets in the hopes of hitting someone or with tank columns that look bad on foreign TV networks.

We need to do the opposite. Accurately hit only those who are involved - without apologizing to the Egyptians and without feelings of guilt towards the Palestinian Authority. One can call it terrorism or resistance; it doesn’t matter. Anyone engaging in this kind of activity must know that Israel will not forget and will not forgive. The years of relative quiet that followed Operation Cast Lead proved that power brings results.

We can discuss the screw-up in communication between the Shin Bet and IDF that allowed Thursday’s multipronged terror attack to materialize later on. There are also no illusions that this would be the last round of fighting in Gaza. Yet this should not prevent us from doing the right thing, at the right time. And the right time is now.