By now I had thought our ground forces would have entered Gaza, but the
operation remains on the edge of happening.
As I approach Shabbat and find I still have many preparations to attend to,
I want to share only a very brief overview of what is transpiring with regard to
the pros and cons of going in and what we do once we start the ground war.
We’re Jews. So we have as many opinions on the subject as we have commentators
and analysts.
In the end, it seems to me we must go in on the ground because Hamas is
stepping up the rocket launchings, and while – thank Goodness – no one one our
side has been killed, there have been injuries at this point, at least a couple
of which are serious.
Mordechai Yemin, an IDF soldier from Itamar, was seriously wounded by
mortar shells yesterday while he was in the Eshkol Regional Council, near Kerem
Shalom. We are being asked to pray for his full recovery: Mordechi
Chai Ben Bracha Yehudit.
And...rockets are aimed now at the airport. Not something we can
tolerate.
~~~~~~~~~~
Netanyahu – either very prudent or over cautious, depending on your
perspective – has to deal with many factors. In no way should we imagine
that his job is anything but horrendous, as he weighs heavy issues. All of
those who write to me with notions of what we “must” do are advised to consider
what we are facing. We don’t have a professional army. The IDF is
composed of our boys. Our sons and grandsons and brothers and fathers and
friends. That some of them may – or in the end, inevitably, must – die to
protect the country is accepted. But it’s heart wrenching – in times like
this we think like one extended family. And the more extensive the
operation, the greater the losses will be. What is a reasonable
“trade-off” for the sake of the country, and what is excessive and
foolish?
With all of this anguish, however, a good portion of the Israeli populace,
I would say, is eager to see us go in and give Hamas what it deserves. The
people want to see strength.
~~~~~~~~~~
On the one hand, we are told that the presence of a whole network of
tunnels makes it imperative that we go in. There is no way that we can
reach those tunnels by air. And they are so sophisticated - Yossi Melman calls
them an “underground city” - that we cannot take out infrastructure and
personnel and weaponry sufficiently without sending in ground troops. What
makes the tunnels more dangerous is that – as I have written before – some of
them travel under the border into Israel, making it possible for terrorists to
enter Israel for kidnappings and various terror incidents.
Another reason we must go in is because Hamas is embedding itself in
hospitals and schools (nothing new), making it impossible to reach them from the
air.
And yet, those same Vietcong-inspired tunnels make matters more dangerous
for ground troops, as they can be surprised from behind by those who are hiding
in tunnels. There are some who say that the fact of the tunnels means we
shouldn’t sent our boys in. That it would be a booby trap.
~~~~~~~~~~
There are those – such as Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, former National
Security Advisor and former head of research for military intelligence - saying
that if we go in at all, it is not worth it unless we take over Gaza and really
wipe out the entire terror network and leaders. Otherwise Hamas will
recoup and it will not have been worth the effort and the lives, as in two years
or three, Hamas will be attacking us again. He says it would take from
three days to two weeks to take Gaza, and that we’d have to remain for six month
to a year.
Avi Dichter former Shin Bet director, says something similar as well. We
need to switch from a tactical to a strategic campaign that will last a year or
two, he says. Capture thousands of terrorist leaders and operators, and
defeat terrorism. This is different from going in to destroy weaponry that
can be replenished. (My own question here is whether the fact that Egypt is
blocking the smuggling tunnels would significantly reduce the ability of Hamas
to replenish its weapon supply. They manufacture some of their own weapons
now, but the best are supplied by Iran.)
I will note here that these suggestions involve only a temporary takeover
of Gaza. There is very little inclination to rule over Gaza indefinitely, with
1.5 million hostile Arabs, for whom we would be responsible.
And there are those – e.g., Mordechai Kedar, an academic with knowledge of
the Islamic world and considerable intelligence savvy – who insist we
absolutely shouldn’t send in our boys because Hamas is laying a trap, and that
there are other ways to handle matters.
~~~~~~~~~~
One of the things Kedar suggests is that we cut off all electricity and
fuel to Gaza, something which some of my readers have been asking me
about.
My response has been that there is an attitude in the Israeli government
that we must be careful to never be accused of collective punishment of the
civilian population of Gaza. Aside from the fact that it may not be legal
according to humanitarian international law, it would serve us very badly from a
PR perspective and cause us to lose the support we have. What is envisioned is a
headline that says, for example, that three people on respirators and five
premature babies in incubators died because Israel cut off electricity and the
hospital where these patients were did not have a working generator.
What’s being said is that the government’s legal advisors (which may
primarily mean the attorney general) advise against cutting off of
electricity. But my own suspicion is that our prime minister, who is so
inordinately concerned about world opinion, would, himself not go this
route.
In 2007, what Israel did, however, was reduce the amount of electricity
sent into Gaza without cutting it off completely, and government lawyers at that
time said this was legal. This, then, might be the way to go – it would fall to
Hamas to decide how to allocate available electricity and if hospitals were
deprived it would be the fault of Hamas. But I don’t know that Netanyahu is
about to be convinced of this.
~~~~~~~~~~
Please know: At about dawn we were hit by three rockets coming out of
Lebanon. Another reason why we must act now.
~~~~~~~~~~
May Shabbat bring us peace. And may the Almighty endow our leaders
with the wisdom to make the best decisions they can.
~~~~~~~~~~
©
Arlene Kushner.
This
material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent
journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced
only
with
proper attribution.
If it is
reproduced and emphasis is added, the fact that it has been added must be
noted.
This material is transmitted by Arlene only to
persons who have requested it or agreed to receive it. If you are on the
list and wish to be removed, contact Arlene and include your name in the text of
the message.
No comments:
Post a Comment