Hamas. Won the first round
Photo: AP
Hizbullah and Hamas play their hole cards
The deadly game is on. We now know what they'll do. What will we do?
The cards finally seem to be on the table. Hizbullah and Hamas have made good on their promises and threats: to kidnap IDF soldiers and batter the Israeli mainland with rockets. They've "won" the first round: heir combined kidnappings and attacks have left IDF soldiers in their grips, soldiers and civilians dead and injured, and communities in the bomb shelters.
What to do now?
Crush them and then make a serious effort at crushing their handlers.
The harsh words aren't just from me. If there is anything possible that will unite the vast majority of Israelis, it is serious attacks on the IDF and thousands of civilians in the North and South.
Hizbullah and Hamas have changed the rules of the game. What have the rules been? They hit us, we hit back a little; they hit us again, we hit back a little. Occasionally, we hit them a bit harder to push them back a bit. Then we turn our backs on them.
It's sort of the Red Light-Green Light game. Only this time, we kept our backs turned too long and have paid a hard price. Now it's their turn to pay a price.
Israelis are sympathetic to the possibility of causing civilian damage, so much so that the Army and Air Force often turn down targeting opportunities because of the way Hamas (particularly) wraps itself around the Gaza populace. According to some reports, Gaza citizens are forced at gunpoint to participate in Hamas activities. True or not, thousands of Gaza citizens have rallied not for peace, but for further resistance.
In Lebanon, entire communities and neighborhoods are controlled and lived in by Hizbullah members. So, the IDF dropped a thinly veiled threat that even Hizbullah leader Nasrallah should look over his shoulder next time he steps out his door or even sits down to dinner.
It would be disingenuous to claim that Hizbullah and Hamas have not seized the upper hand in recent weeks. Our relatively new, relatively inexperienced government has fumbled its responses.
But this new situation in the North, with Katyushas raining down in Nahariya and other large communities seems to have hardened the government's resolve and helped it clarify its response.
Thankfully, the official response has been briefer than previous statements. Talk softly and wield a big stick, to paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt, has only rarely been our modus operandi. There is a lot of swaggering and boasting and blabbing in the government. But as of last night the blabbermouths seem to have shut up, at least for the moment.
The less said the better.
There is no question we can keep the heat on Lebanon; the questions are how long we can continue to do so before Arab whining pressures the international community to pressure us, and whether we will stop there.
We rattled the windows in Bashar Assad's palace recently. Can we do more? The answer is obvious: yes we can. Will we? Stay tuned. Prediction is a dangerous game, and Israel isn't the only country with something at stake here. But this time may just be different.
Alan D. Abbey is Founding Editor of Ynetnews. His Web site is www.abbeycontent.com .
