On October 14, 2013,
Israel Hayom published an article that looking back shows how amateur an
approach Israel took toward the tunnels in Gaza. It happened that
hammering was heard one night at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha. Some of the
kibbutz members thought their neighbors were renovating their homes, but
then they met and realized no home improvements were under way. One of
them contacted me at the paper while others turned to the defense
establishment, causing the tunnel to be exposed. But luck can't play a
role every time, and Israel found itself facing a complex web of tunnel
openings. If Hamas had managed to carry out its plan, Israel would have
fallen victim to a deathly rash of kidnappings.
The murder of the three
teenagers Gil-ad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach in Halhoul,
Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett argued on Monday, served in
retrospect to throw Israel into gear to save itself from the threat.
Bennett announced on Channel 2 that he would not let any cease-fire go
into effect until every one of the Israel Defense Forces' brigade
commanders said that he had successfully destroyed the tunnels. But Maj.
Gen. (res.) Eitan Ben-Eliyahu said after leaving the studio that this
would never happen because none of the brigade commanders would ever be
certain that all the tunnels were in fact eliminated.
These remarks hint at
dissent in the cabinet that will grow if Cairo issues a call for a
humanitarian cease-fire. Israel can't accept that. It has no intention
of keeping a large reservist army on alert, doing nothing, until
discussions about the standard cease-fire conclude. In a day or two, the
problem will be laid at the door of every country involved in the local
conflict.
Thus far, Egypt has
sought to have a cease-fire precede every move. Hamas has refused,
Israel has agreed. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry, who invited himself, and PA President Mahmoud
Abbas are all supposed to take part in the Cairo meeting. If a new
initiative comes out of it, what will Israel do? Diplomatic officials
are acting like they'll cross that bridge when they come to it. As of
this writing, Hamas is the one rejecting the calls for a cease-fire
under the Egyptian terms, and Israel continues to demolish tunnels.
The main debate is
Hamas' demand to remove the siege on Gaza. Israel should not agree to
this so long as Hamas continues to terrorize the Strip. Israel was
surprised by the tunnels' strategic significance and Hamas' enormous
weapons stockpile precisely because the siege hasn't been unrelenting
all this time. The tunnels were dug successfully because Israel did not
withhold shipments of cement. It won't repeat the same mistake, and if
it does it won't forgive itself.
On Tuesday, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with Ban. As of Monday
at 10 p.m., no other meeting was scheduled between him and Kerry. Many
believe the latter wouldn't be sent to Cairo if he hadn't been promised
ahead of time he could successfully broker a cease-fire. How many times
can Kerry be expected to fail?
To this groping in the
dark was added Hamas' announcement last night that it was demanding
American guarantees for a cease-fire. But the opposite is true -- Israel
is the one that will demand that the Arab League ensure quiet. But
Israel must be careful not to drag its feet and stay in Gaza any longer
than it has to.
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