Israel must counter Hamas

Op-ed: Israel doesn’t have many choices; whatever we fail to do today will cost more tomorrow

Yoaz Hendel|Published: 03.21.11 , 18:03

Operation Cast Lead ended without a true bottom line. We felt that we won, based on the quiet that prevailed the day after, yet until now there isn’t even one military expert who can clearly define the victory.

The political leadership, headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Barak, shied away from defining clear targets (in the wake of the Second Lebanon War fiasco); this prompted them not to define anything. The operation drew to an end because they decided to do so, yet the problem was not resolved.

Strategic Response

Time for new deterrence

Yoaz Hendel

Op-ed: Restraint isn’t power; Israel must set state-sponsored price tag for Palestinian terror

Time for new deterrence

Anyone involved in this front realized that the deterrence that had been achieved (via hundreds of Hamas fatalities and the elimination of its infrastructure) would have to be maintained – there is no other way. The problem with the notion of deterrence (an elusive term by all accounts) is that one cannot just ignore it. You either cultivate it via decisive responses or you fail to respond, thereby watering it down.

When Hamas deliberately fires barrages of dozens of mortar shells on Israeli citizens in Gaza-region communities, it means that the deterrence has evaporated. This does not happen at once or as a one-time response for some IDF operation. The loss of deterrence is a process.

We see a mortar shell here, a Qassam there, a Grad rocket fired at Beersheba, and shots directed at IDF patrols along the Gaza fence; eventually, southern Israel residents end up facing an intolerable situation.

Don’t ignore Iran’s involvement

A sovereign state cannot allow such situation to continue – even if the implication is to order the IDF to do battle in the Strip regularly. We also cannot ignore the Iranian component in this story. At this time already, the Gaza Strip is a Revolutionary Guards outpost. Victoria, the vessel that aimed to deliver arms to Hamas, carried only a small fraction of what is already available in the Strip.

Nurturing Hamas’ self-confidence with minor responses to deliberate attacks and turning a blind eye to an unprecedented military buildup has brought us to a difficult situation. Indeed, it isn’t easy to decide on a major military effort when it’s possible to just ignore the situation. The risks inherent in a military operation, regardless of its scope, exist in any case, even if Operation Cast Lead was completed at a relatively reasonable price.

Nonetheless, we do not have too many choices; whatever we fail to do today shall cost us much more tomorrow.