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The West's Fear of Escalation Is Not Helpful

(JISS) Prof. Efraim Inbar - The many calls for restraint by Israel are not very useful. These pronouncements that express genuine reluctance to use force are seen by most people in the Middle East as weakness. In many situations, climbing the escalation ladder is probably the best way to put an end to violence. For years, Israel preferred to absorb many rocket attacks and refrained from a strong response that could lead to escalation. This only gave time to Hamas to build its military capabilities and acquire the might to withstand an Israeli offensive now in its tenth month. Similarly, Israel's reluctance to preempt in Lebanon allowed Hizbullah to build a formidable missile arsenal. Hizbullah grew to become a monster that since Oct. 8 has conducted, undeterred, a war of attrition against Israel. The continued existence of over 100,000 missiles in the hands of Hizbullah is an intolerable situation for Israel. Only an escalation intended to eliminate the missile arsenal can put an end to the war of attrition. The "diplomatic solution" the Americans and the French are pushing for in Lebanon is a mirage. Hizbullah cannot be trusted to abide for long by any agreement. Being perceived as having a predilection for escalation helps deterrence. Deterrence must be maintained over time by the occasional use of force. Restraint may be construed as weakness and invite aggression. This is the way the bullies read things in the Middle East. In the final analysis, the only effective persuasion is the use of force. This requires willingness to escalate the struggle to defeat the Islamist radicals. The writer, director of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), was the founding director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
2024-08-06 00:00:00
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