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Decision Time Approaching

(Israel Hayom) Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror - Should Israel view the Hamas threat as one does a chronic disease, which has unpleasant yet tolerable daily effects and which requires a difficult treatment every few years; or should Israel risk a complex, difficult and risky operation that, even if it could alleviate many of the symptoms completely, would require lengthy aftercare. It is not impossible to create a reality in which there is no rocket fire from Gaza, just as there is no rocket fire from Judea and Samaria [the West Bank]. This, however, requires a complex ground maneuver to seize control of Gaza. The process of demilitarizing Gaza and arresting Hamas operatives could take between six months and a year, and it is likely to see fierce fighting and multiple casualties. Unfortunately, those are the only two realistic options: a lengthy, difficult operation to end the rocket fire on Israel, or a cease-fire that would lead to another round of violence in the future. I believe that given the extent of the damage Hamas has sustained, along with the Egypt-imposed constraints and international isolation, it would have to undergo a long and difficult rehabilitation process, and therefore a cease-fire - even without an IDF operation that would extend beyond the destruction of the tunnels - would be longer. The writer is a former national security adviser and a senior fellow at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
2014-07-25 00:00:00
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