Senior delegates at a counter-terrorism conference in Herzeliya expressed impatience with government inaction following the rocket attack on an IDF base overnight, in which dozens of soldiers have been
injured.
The Interdisciplinary Center's Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT) is hosting the last day of its annual conference, which attracts analysts and politicians from Israel and abroad to discuss threats to security.
Former Knesset Member Uzi Landau (Likud), an outspoken critic of Israel's departure from Gaza, and a former minister of internal security, asked, "How many people must be killed or wounded by these rockets before something is done?"
"We were promised that once we leave Gaza, if any more rockets came our way, Gaza would shake, and the world would understand," Landau told Ynetnews, adding that the promise proved to be an empty one.
Dr. (Lt. Col.) Anat Berko, a senior terrorism analyst at the ICT, also said the time for action had arrived, adding that the best way to stop the rockets was to cause Palestinian civilians to pressure Hamas to end the attacks.
Berko is author of the recently published 'Path to Paradise,' a book which examines the mindset of suicide bombers and their dispatchers, and has interviewed senior Hamas parliamentarians in Israeli custody. During her military career, she has entered Gaza on several occasions.
"We know that if Hamas wants to, it can stop the rockets, like it stopped guns in the streets of Gaza, and freed the BBC reporter Alan Johnston," Berko told Ynetnews.
"Hamas talks about nothing less than the destruction of Israel. It doesn't matter whether the rockets are launched by Islamic Jihad, there is an address in Gaza - a terrorist enemy entity," she added.
Berko stopped short of calling for the creation of a security buffer zone in Gaza like in southern Lebanon before Israel withdrew in 2000, adding that such tactics have turned soldiers into targets and "have not proven themselves."
"For every rocket fired at Israel, civilians should be warned with leaflets that the IDF is about to shell the area from where the rocket was launched. They will then pressure (Hamas Prime Minister Ismail) Haniyeh," Berko proposed. "I stress that I sympathize with the Palestinian civilians, they are not our enemies, but rather they are victims of the terrorist Hamas entity," she added.
"Israel must protect itself as soon as possible. There's a limit to what a country can tolerate, and no country in the world would tolerate this," Berko said.
Asked whether Syria may have had a role to play in the rocket attack overnight, Berko replied: "Hamas representatives sit in Damascus. Khaled Mashaal is based there. This can't be ruled out. In order to conquer Gaza, the IDF has to call up whole divisions. Our enemies know that, and could be hoping for a distraction in Gaza ahead of an escalation on the northern border."