Qassam rocket
Photo: AP
No solution to rocket attacks
Truth must be told: Israel has no answer for Qassam rockets
Beyond the babble and chatter sounded by political leaders, military personnel and commentators, we should immediately face the residents of Sderot and the western Negev and tell them the only real truth, the bitter truth: The State of Israel, thus far, has no real solution to the barrage of Qassam rockets landing in the city and nearby communities. No solution.
We should explicitly tell the residents of Sderot: The entire State of Israel should salute you and do everything in its power to ease your suffering, but it cannot do much: We have reached a dead-end with a despicable neighbor who has no sense and who apparently enjoys suffering. There's no solution to the current situation.
For years Israel's best political and military minds sought a solution to no avail: Retake the Gaza Strip? Once again kill dozens or hundreds of IDF soldiers only to later become responsible for the survival of a million and a half Palestinian residents? Waste millions in order to create battalions of enemies? And what about the terror that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians in the Gaza Strip over the years?
One idea we hear is to retake just part of Gaza, or the so-called "launching sites" – a funny term in a sad world: Launching sites can be located in a backyard or on the roof of a large balcony. Should we bomb the "launching sites?" – Really, do you think the launchers are just sitting there waiting? Should we seal Gaza off, starve the population, and cut the water supply? – Within two hours the entire world would protest against us and we shall turn into the culprits. Dear friends, there is no solution.
Cost of fortification
A few years ago when the first Intifada broke out, Palestinian snipers fired into the homes and shop windows of Gilo in Jerusalem. Remember? There was quite a bit of panic then and it was decided to fortify and block the windows facing the direction of fire from Beit Jala.The State of Israel and the Jerusalem municipality set to work only to be shocked: The price of fortification was so high that it would have been more sensible to build a new neighborhood somewhere else with a small supplement of funds.
Through a silent agreement between Avraham Shochat and Ehud Olmert, the process of fortification work was slowed down, and lo and behold, the sniper fire stopped as well.
Now, everyone calling for the fortification of Sderot, and perhaps this is a good thing. But it is not the solution. After spending hundreds of millions in fortifying Sderot, Hamas will laugh at us for milking us dry of our money and will go onto barraging other communities within range in the Negev. What should we do? Should we reinforce those too until we go bankrupt? Where should we stop the fortification? On Yosef Hanasi Street in Bat Yam? (And this doesn't mean that public buildings shouldn't be fortified in Sderot - that is mandatory).
No magic wand
Several years ago, a desperate Israeli citizen suggested putting a giant iron net over Sderot. That way, all the Qassam rockets, Katyusha rockets and mortar shells would be blocked by the giant net and residents would be saved.People are sitting and wondering: We are the chosen people, we have created almost everything (including nuclear bombs, they say) - how it is that we don't have a military solution to these primitive missiles? We are such geniuses, Nobel Prize laureates – and we have no solution – none.
For years Jews and non-Jews worldwide have been wracking their brains without being able to find a solution. The Americans worked on the Nautilus defense system and abandoned it. Here at our own national armament authority perhaps the Jews have found something that will become operational in 6-8 years and will serve as an iron dome against missiles. Perhaps.
What can we do, there is still no magic wand that will lead to a solution. There is none.
