Defeat the Enemy

by Zvika Fogel

The Arab world, especially its radical Islamic component, is taking advantage of Western political weakness. Almost every Western leader is currently choosing to avoid making the tough decisions necessary to combat radical Islam, which is threatening the free world. Fears of short-term political losses at home are preventing Western leaders from exhibiting the courage to ensure normal life in their countries in the long run.

Israel finds itself in the eye of the Islamic storm, surrounded by Arab countries going through revolutions and internal strife. Neighboring countries have become fertile ground for terrorist groups that seek to conduct attacks against the Jews, the enemies of Islam. Moreover, at the same time, Arab leaders, fearful of Islamization at home, are pressuring Israel to refrain from exerting the full military and diplomatic force required to defend its citizens and borders. 

This is how Israel's "campaign of deterrence" took shape in recent times. The nature of this campaign is that every few years, or, in the worst-scenarios, months, Israel is forced to conduct a new military operation.

We are in the midst of a battle between wars. This period is characterized by military operations to restore deterrence, rather than achieve victory. The Second Lebanon War, Operation Cast Lead and Operation Pillar of Defense -- all of these were designed to strengthen Israel's deterrence, rather than defeat the enemy. The immediate implications of this are the need to preserve the deterrence achieved and examine the responses of the enemy. Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south did not wait long to invest all of their energy in acquiring and developing long-range rockets and building underground cities and tunnels that lead terrorists to the rear of the military deployed on the border and inside Israeli communities in the Gaza area.

After the sniper attack on Tuesday in which an Israeli was killed on the Gaza border, Israel should have bombed the homes of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his henchmen to send a powerful message that we intend to defend ourselves in every way possible. While such a response could lead to a regional conflagration, strong action like that would provide an opportunity to defeat Hamas, push back the date of the next battle and perhaps even bring Hamas to the realization that the use of force will achieve nothing for the Palestinian people.

As we have learned nothing from the Egyptians on how to deal with Hamas terror and we have not been able to maintain our deterrence, the next battle is not far off.

The more than one hundred terror incidents in Judea and Samaria each month are definitive proof that even when we choose the path of reconciliation and compromise, there remains on the ground an ongoing extremist ideological belief among the Palestinians against our right to live here. The Palestinian Authority, with which we conduct negotiations about coexistence, does not have the desire or capability to deal with extremism among its people. If that is the case, we must complete the job of defeating terrorism in Judea and Samaria. Western leaders, who keep pressuring us to make concessions and pay an unbearable price in lives, must understand that supporting Israel in its fight against terror is part of the overall Western fight against terror, and benefits everyone.

Brig. Gen. (res.) Zvika Fogel is a former chief of staff of the IDF Southern Command.

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=6793

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