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Gilad Shalit
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No more talking; get soldier back

IDF may have been driven back to Gaza by extremists, but we'll finish what they started

 

Now may be the time for calm, reasoned discussion about the flashpoint situation we are in now: The IDF back in Gaza, an Israeli teen murdered and dumped in a field, a soldier in Palestinian captivity, an unconfirmed (as of this writing) report of a chemical-tipped rocket fired from Gaza into southern Israel.

 

But, then again, maybe not.

 

It seems as if all the reasoned discussion of the last six months since Hamas won control of the Palestinian parliament and government has gone for nothing, as the terror puppet masters sitting in Damascus have yanked the strings one more time.

 

For all of the Palestinian infighting in the last few months it seemed - it seemed - it seemed as if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was regaining the upper hand and forging some kind of consensus, or at least superficial unity in the territories. His call for recognition of Israel and negotiations to untie the horribly knotted ball of string in which the political situation is wrapped seemed to be making progress.

 

But then the extremists - and yes, I do distinguish among differing shades of Palestinian opinion; Palestinians are not and cannot be seen as a monolithic, hate-filled nation - gained the upper hand again with their successful assault on an Israeli military outpost, killing two IDF soldiers and, worst of all, kidnapping another, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

 

If "experts" (and I advisedly put that word in quotes) are to be believed, the "military" wing, or the Damascus-run terror wing of Hamas was afraid that the "political" wing in Gaza was coming into line with Abbas, even as Palestinian prisoners were pressing for some limited, quasi-, sort of, not really recognition of Israel on thoroughly unacceptable terms.

 

So, they ramped up the terror quotient with a quasi-military assault.

 

Did that one assault significantly change the overall strategic situation? No. The nation and military forces of Israel are not facing a strategic threat of significance.

 

Did it change the political situation? Yes. The nation and military forces of Israel are facing an unacceptable threat that they cannot just go about their daily lives without additional fear of Palestinian terrorism and captivity. That demands a response. That is what the Palestinians are getting. There must be a price. You can debate the long-term strategic value of such a response, you can call it a political response by a weak and unsure Israeli government. But a response was needed.

 

The extreme, media-savvy Palestinian argument is that, well, you know, that's what happens to us all the time; the hundreds of Qassam missiles shot into southern Israel have never really done any damage, and how does it feel to be on the receiving end of the stick we feel every day.

 

'It is not going to improve soon'

 

The answer, of course, is stop the terror, get your house in order, rein in your crazies, and there will be what to discuss.

 

What isn't heard at times like this are the moderate voices working in out-of-the-way locales, in quiet settings to make personal connections and bridges between people regardless of government positions.

 

Perhaps now isn't the time, however. Murderous, treacherous acts have been taken by people who are our sworn enemies. Rather than repudiating them (Abbas excepted), 20,000 people (or so Gaza-based activists say) demonstrated against giving up the kidnapped soldier, because Israel wouldn't discuss swapping him for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

 

It can't be collective punishment (the Palestinian catchphrase for Israeli military actions) if everyone is, in fact, our sworn enemy. If we're all combatants, as the Palestinians say, aren't they?

 

Ach, this is a mess; it is not going to improve soon. We won't be able to talk again until our soldier is back, the Hamas brigands are put down, and the dust settles. And we shouldn't talk until that happens.

 

Alan Abbey is Founding Editor of Ynetnews. His Web site is www.abbeycontent.com 

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.29.06, 11:20
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