Opinion
No policy, no deterrence
Alex Fishman
Published: 12.11.12, 11:44
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29 Talkbacks for this article
1. Our current government does not have a clue how stop rockets
Jew1 ,   Ashdod   (11.12.12)
In short, as the time passes, it is clear that our current government does not have a clue how to stop these rockets. That's why they keep on picking up the false peace treaty and try to fool it's own population that they achieved something for southern calm. We are not fools. May be it's time to bring a change, someone who can tackle this complicated issue. Good we have elections soon.
2. Amazing, isn't it?
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (11.12.12)
Look at the photograph. Lush, green pastures on the Israeli side of the border. Scraggly weeds and barren earth on the Gaza side. Perhaps if the terrorist denizens of Gaza were to care more about their people than about challenging Israel, they, too, could have lush and productive farmland. But where's the fun in that? Gaza must be crushed. Totally. No more delicate pinpoint targeting. Just crushed; reduced to a pile of stinking rubble. Israelis living along the border -- and even as far away as Be'ersheva -- cannot be held hostage to criminal terrorists. Israel will patrol anywhere it wishes along that border. If the terrorists don't like it, Israel should send a few well-placed bombs for that sub-human rabble to chew upon.
3. Be fair
israel israeli ,   tel aviv   (11.12.12)
Netanyahu has his share of failures, but he is no miracle worker: he was handed a really bad deck of cards. Hezbolla is armed to teeth thanks to Peres, Barak, Olmerd and Livni. Hamas is armed to the teeth thanks Peres, Sharon, Barak, Olmerd and Livni. Egypt and Sinai have become destabilized thanks to Obama. Fatah has a powerful American-trained army thanks to Peres, Sharon, Barak and Olmerd. And if Netanyahu does take defensive action, the foreign-funded Shovrim Shtika, Shalom Achsav and Mahsom Watch groups will start legal proceedings and delegitimization of the IDF like they did in Cast Lead and Mavi Marmara.
4. A little foresight required.
michael Pielet ,   israel   (11.12.12)
Of course this analysis is all wrong. The war in the south is against Iran. Why did not Rabin, Peres, Sharon, and Mofaz and their leftist comrades not tell us that after the israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Iran would fill the void, and our civilians in the south would be at war with iran? What israel need now is to withdraw from Judea and Samaria so that the residents of Jerusalem and Gush Dan can join in the festivities.
5. To #1: Naftali Bennett as PM would solve the "problem"......
Esq62 ,   Israel   (11.12.12)
He is the only Israeli leader with brains and guts to do the right thing: Eliminate terrorists. STOP playing their game.
6. Once Israel moves
John Prophet   (11.12.12)
against Hamas in earnest, it all begins!
7. Alex Fishman got it right....Why can't you accept
Edithann ,   USA   (11.12.12)
the truth..... And when did Palestinian Freedom Fighters become terrorists? Are all who fight for their homes and lands under occupation, terrorists? Who developed such an outlandish definition? Does Israel have a different dictionary then the rest of us? TATA
8. jesus'sarah, what's with all the rubble'talk?
the mad zionist ,   sf-ny-is   (11.12.12)
every post I see from you is about turning another place into rubble. rubble'rousing never solved a problem, only created more for the future. for such an educated woman, you lower yourself when every & only solution you come up with is turning a place into rubble.....surely there must be another solution you can think of? Jake Sarna
9. It's a disgrace. Retake Gaza forever!
Chaim ,   Israel   (11.12.12)
How much longer are we going to pay for our disastrous retreat from Gaza? It's a disgrace. Retake Gaza forever! Drive our enemies out. Rebuild Gush Katif.
10. Israel needs a strong leader- she does have have one
Rachel ,   US   (11.12.12)
Maybe Naftali is the one.
11. #3 Israeli
Rachel ,   US   (11.12.12)
A real leader would defend his or her people and let the chips fall what may. Netanyahu does not have that kind of courage.
12. #4 two possibilties
(11.12.12)
They were stupid or they were criminally incompetent.
13. To No. 2
Bertram ,   London, UK   (11.12.12)
Amazing,isn't it? Just tweak your talkback a little bit, substitute 'Israel' for 'Gaza' , and you sound just like Hamas. Essentially, it's a gladiatorial contest. The Romans would have loved it.
14. @8, Making piles of rubble works!
M Carr ,   Baltimore, USA   (11.12.12)
The rocket fire from Lebanon only stopped after a good chunk of Beirut was turned into rubble. Cast Lead caused Hamas to cry uncle when Israeli forces moved about freely leaving piles of rubble in their wake. Leaving piles of rubble serves a useful purpose if the other option is to do nothing. Nothing gets an enemies attention better than feeling the ground move beneath them or the possibility of the roof collapsing on them. By the way, I notice you didn’t offer a solution of your own. As usual, Sarah B is right on this one.
15. There is no military solution
spyguy ,   seattle usa   (11.12.12)
There is no way to use the military to stop the rockets. Israel can not "take back" Gaza unless it is willing to kill hundreds of thousands of Gazans, get thousands of Israelis killed in the initial invasion and hundreds more killed each and every day the Israelis are in Gaza. Then there is the political fallout that an invasion would cause - massive sanctions on Israeli industry driving the economy down. Note that Obama will have zero incentive to help Israel especially when every other country on earth will be screaming for action AGAINST Israel. The ONLY VIABLE option is to treat Gaza like a peer and NEGOTIATE a peace treaty. Those that advocate that Israel just tell the world to shut up, fail to understand that Israel can not do that and survive. Israel has reached the limits of what a military can do.
16. Chief of Staff for Armchair Division
Mea   (11.12.12)
General Sarah, The verbose chanting for genocide in Gaza is just so , so ...how shall I say it, American. I have never heard an Israeli call for leveling Gaza. Or war, for that matter. Look everyone knows this is a complex situation. Iran is involved, Egypt is involved, and there are many many layers that must be considered before we send our children into that nest in Gaza. Your constant vomiting up of aristocratic platitudes works for your little fan base of non-Israelis but keep in mind none of them will lose kids next round. At ease, General Armchair.
17. # 13 you are wrong because....
carlos ,   San Diego CA   (11.12.12)
In WWII the only way the allies vanquished the Germans was after bombing the hell out of Germany, only then they stopped and until now pretend to be civilized. Check your history.
18. Israel is fine. Meanwhile, IDF gets to 'practice' on Hamas.
Daniel ,   Los Angeles   (11.12.12)
Just another day in the day in the life of a small but great nation.
19. Deterrence
Joe ,   Israel   (11.12.12)
Target the leaders of Hamas. They don't care how many of their stupid followers they send to their deaths. They do, however, care very much for their own lives.
20. #15 of course there is a military solution
Gee ,   Zikron Yaakov   (11.13.12)
Since you know absolutely nothing about the military (your stupid statements prove that) I will explain. Yes the military can and must stop the rockets - nothing else will work with Arabs. As for killing hundreds of thousands - that is an American speciality - we can manage to do so without doing that and have proven that already. As for the political fallout - who care? We have the right to live free of attacks no matter how many Arabs have to die to achieve that. As for Odumba - he is as stupid as you. Can't negotiate - the Arabs have repeatedly stated that they will never negotiate - so the only thing left is to kill them - that is their choice. We haven't used even 1/10,000th of the limits of what our military can do. If we choose we can take the entire Strip within 24 hours and no country on the world can stop that.
21. secret option 4.. retake gaza reverse 2005
danny   (11.13.12)
22. #20 thank you for demonstrating the bubble effect
spyguy ,   seattle usa   (11.13.12)
The first indication that you are in a fantasy bubble is the comment "As for the political fallout - who care?" That just shows that you have no idea how interconnected your life is with the rest of the world. If the other 6 billion people decide to force you to bend to their will, you will be forced to bend to their will. You do not live on an asteroid but on earth where the majority squashes a minority that causes trouble. You can not successfully resist the will of the rest of the world. Your own military leaders will tell you that NOTHING the military can do, no matter how many Israelis get killed, will stop the rockets. Remember even when the IDF directly controlled Gaza, there were still rockets. I agree that the IDF can try to take Gaza (it will take a lot longer than you think) but the cost to Israel will be extremely high with lots of dead Israelis.
23. @#22 Of course you can!!
Bob ,   USA   (11.13.12)
Consider North Korea or Iran and see that a country can do what it likes and thumb it's nose at the most powerful. Israel can eject all arabs from it's territory if it likes and nobody can or would stop them. Certainly there would be much hue and cry but it would pass very soon. And it would not take very long at all provided the proper incentives and techniques are employed. If you will recall, most arab states ejected their jewish populations in 1948 (or previously), confiscated their wealth, and nobody seemed to care much. Turnabout is fairplay, after all.
24. Israeli policy
Syd Chaden ,   Palermo Calif USA   (11.13.12)
The current Israeli policy toward terrorist attacks is to respond militarily. That will not bring any long-term solution to the problem., because the attacks stem from religious incitement by the Mullahs, who are unimpressed by the death or damage caused by retaliation. Israel should implant explosives around the Al Aksa Mosque, and declare that any Muslim attack on Israel thereafter will result in destruction of the Mosque. The choice of survival or destruction of the Mosque will be in the hands of the Mullahs, who can continue to incite the attacks or issue a Fatwa against them.
25. # 24...For such superior intelligent people...all you can
Edithann ,   USA   (11.13.12)
come up with it more of the same only more of it? Besides more killing and obvious destruction, what else would it do?...will it make you safer forever???? Will it solve your long term problems?...It's not religion stupid..that's the same excuse they use....So where does that leave you??? TATA
26. # 23..not really...they were not expelled..Israel needed
Edithann ,   USA   (11.13.12)
the Arab Jews in Israel for demographics .. They needed Arab Jewish bodies to counter the Palestinian population..as an excuse to steal Palestinian homes and lands..and it worked! TATA.
27. Treat Gaza as you want to be treated!
Ben Alofs ,   Bangor, UK   (11.13.12)
Israel's occupation is continuing despite the pullout of 2005. In fact, its intereference in the Gaza Strip has reached obsessive levels to the point where Israelis even count out the number of calories they think Gazans need!!! Israel's leadership appears to think that you can humiliate Gazans, lock them up in their prisons, prevent them from visiting relatives in Jerusalem or the Westbank, destroy powerhouses, farms and factories and prevent them from leading a normal economic life. Also two thirds of the Gazans are refugees from the villages from Southern Palestine and cities like Jaffa. They have never forgotten the crime of their dispossession. Israel had the chance to build a modus vivendi with Gaza after Hamas won the 2006 elections and a moderate political leadership emerged, which was able to be pragmatic. But it decided to isolate and undermine Hamas, as Israel has always done with any strong and independent Palestinian resistance organization, that it cannot bend or manipulate. Israel refuses to learn from its stupidities, which it continues to commit. Drink a glas of tapwater from Gaza (yes the water that Israel forces most Gazans to drink every day) and ask yourself, if you want to be treated like Israel has been treating the Gazans in the past decade or so.
28. To all who preach negotiation
Orren ,   London   (11.14.12)
We have been trying this for years and years and it has not worked. The Palestinians refuse to compromise on any issue, that's not negotiating! All Israel has gained from it's numerous concessions over the years is more terror. Name one concession that Hamas or the PA have made to Israel. There are none!!! Hamas keeps harking on about Israel breaking agreements when they consistently break the ceasefire that they begged for after the last Gaza operation. Negotiations won't work until we have a partner who is willing to compromise and not just stall until they Israel gives in to their demands.
29. to no.9
gazah ,   gazah   (11.19.12)
do think they left gazah as a nice gesture or because of price they were paying daily ? and it is just hamas , now think if with hamas there are the other arabic countries ( of course not with the proamerican rulers and imagine that you don't have usa at your side !!!!!
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