(JNS) Evelyn Gordon - If someone came up with an idea for destroying Hamas that could be executed quickly and with minimal casualties, Israelis obviously would support that, but nobody has. The only plan with proven capability to suppress terror over the long term remains the one Israel executed in the West Bank in 2002 in response to the Second Intifada: The army goes in, and it never leaves. That's how Israel has kept West Bank terror within tolerable limits ever since. During the Second Intifada a wave of suicide bombings and other attacks throughout Israel killed 452 Israelis in 2002. In today's situation, Gaza has made life hell for residents of communities near the border for the last seven months, but it isn't causing most Israelis enough pain to make them willing to reoccupy the territory. Hamas understands this very well. That's why it deliberately confined itself to bombarding the south earlier this month. It wanted to cause as much pain as possible without crossing the threshold that would provoke Israel into war. Hamas will eventually become overconfident and cause Israel enough anguish to provoke it to reoccupy Gaza. But the political reality is that there isn't enough public support for such an operation today.
2018-11-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive