Is it war or rumors of war?
With Israeli-Palestinian talks barely treading water, and Palestinian internecine warfare worsening, Hamas has reverted to form, launching a withering barrage of Kassam rockets onto Israeli civilian targets. One Israeli woman has already died, and the city of Sderot has once again taken the brunt.
We, like all Jews and people of goodwill, cry out, “Enough!” But after that, what?
The Kassam attacks underscore a dilemma that won’t go away. To crush terrorism in Gaza, Israel would have to take drastic military action: a ground invasion, targeted assassination of key terrorist leaders, arrest of Hamas political figures.
Yet were Israel to attempt any of those options, it would pay dearly in blood and international opinion. Should the Olmert administration initiate talks with an untrustworthy Hamas-led government, Israel might be seen as weak, encouraging further terrorism. Should Israel take only minimal steps, such as limited air strikes, the Kassams may never cease.
If Israel’s leaders seem stymied by Hobbesian choices, how much more so for those of us far removed from the field of battle. It is easy to urge a military response, not unlike the keyboard commandoes who cheered on America’s calamitous Iraq war. We do not want to make the same mistake.
However, in contemplating solutions to this crisis, we need to recall core Jewish values.
Israel has an absolute right to defend itself from terrorism. We believe Hamas will never reform, will never recognize Israel other than as a diversion while it prepares its avowed war of destruction. We also believe only Israelis can decide the best measures to take. When it comes to halting the Kassams –– an indiscriminate form of attack no nation on earth would tolerate –– world opinion takes a back seat.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzivi Lipni raised the stakes this week, daring the world community to deploy the international peacekeeping force it has often proposed to Gaza. We are not holding our breath on that one.
Bottom line, war weary as Israelis may be, hungry for peace as the region may be, Israel will not and cannot ignore deadly attacks from a sworn enemy. No one is saying “Bring it on,” but if Hamas continues to bring it on, Israelis will fight on to defend their nation.
Amazingly, most Israelis still envision a lasting peace, living side by side with their Palestinian neighbors. But we may not get there unless Palestinian terrorist crimes are stopped. Israel has the will. Is there a way?
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California