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Restraint Is Not Possible

[Ha'aretz] Editorial - The firing of Kassam rockets against Sderot and the nearby kibbutzim is not stopping and is extracting a heavy price in terms of fear and blood. Responsibility for the shooting from Gaza, which has been going on for seven years, falls on the Palestinians. Were it not for the shooting, Israel would not respond. For the past eight months Hamas has ruled Gaza alone, and it is no longer possible to explain away the shooting as due to a lack of control over rogue organizations. Are the West Bank and Gaza still one entity, aspiring to establish an independent state alongside Israel? Is it possible that in all situations, Israel will hold negotiations for the establishment of such a state while Hamas is shooting at it? Israel left Gaza in the summer 2005 to signal the start of an end to the occupation. The ball passed to the Palestinian court, where it has been stuck after the Palestinians elected Hamas, which opposes a peace agreement with Israel. If the limited military actions Israel is undertaking in an effort to bring an end to the Kassam rockets will not bring an end to the shooting; if the moderate states, and first and foremost Egypt and Jordan, fail to contain Hamas - Israel will have no option but to embark on a broad military operation. The Israel Defense Forces raison d'etre is to protect the country's citizens from attack. Israel must prove that the blood of its citizens cannot be forfeited - so that in the future, its neighbors will abide by the agreements to which they have committed.
2008-02-11 01:00:00
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