Policies of Failure?
It’s no secret that 25 years after the disastrous Oslo Accords, Israel has not defeated the terrorist threat from the Palestinians. Now, with Hamas firmly entrenched in Gaza, the government is sending uneven signals. To some, there seems to be a zig-zag policy of denouncing attacks in the South, while at the same time managing things diplomatically.
Now, a key Israeli politician is being vocal about the need for stronger response.
Naftali Bennett—who has been mentioned as a possible future successor to Netanyahu (who next year will have been in office a staggering 10 years)—is strongly denouncing Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s efforts.
“Under the guise of ‘pragmatism’ and ‘responsibility,’ Liberman has abandoned the security of residents of the south to Hamas,” Bennett said. “Over the last few days we see the dangerous results of the defense minister’s policies regarding the Gaza Strip. The more restraint there has been, the more terror. This is not the way to run security policies, this is a way to fail.”
Bennett, Education Minister, has been accused of being “jealous” of Liberman’s defense portfolio, so the reputation of raucous Israeli politics is well-founded.
Although we love Netanyahu, as Christian Zionists, at what point does Israel move to wipe out Hamas? This is what should be done. In relatively recent history, Israel carried out such actions with not so much regard to the diplomatic fallout. The increased globalization climate and high-speed communications have combined to stifle Israel when it comes to self-defense.
From a recent report from the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center:
“While contacts for arrangement are bogged down, Hamas recently stepped up the level of violence against Israel. In the ‘return march’ events (September 14, 2018), there was more violence than last week; During the march, hand grenades and pipe bombs were thrown at IDF soldiers; In the following days, hand grenades and pipe bombs were thrown, and IEDs were planted near the security fence. In addition, arson terrorism continued (incendiary balloons were found in a playground in the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, about 50 km from the Gaza Strip).”
These psychopaths invent ways to inflict pain and harm! Note the following additional information:
“In the past few days, Palestinian media reports on the activity of new units of young
Palestinians, called ‘Night Disturbance Units.’ According to their operatives, their purpose is to keep the IDF soldiers on the Gaza Strip border constantly alert, wear them down and prevent them from resting by various means, mainly: burning tires under cover of darkness in areas close to the security fence along the Gaza Strip border; throwing Molotov cocktails at IDF positions along the border; sounding sirens in order to make the IDF soldiers declare a state of alert (SAFA, September 16, 2018; Palestine Online, September 16, 2018).”
Bennett has a point. There is no “good” solution to an end to this madness. A full-scale effort by Israel to eradicate Hamas will ensure that some innocent Palestinians will be killed. This is what every Palestinian “leader” since Yasser Arafat has thirsted for.
One can see parallels with the ancient Israelites, who failed to completely remove the Canaanite presence from the Promised Land. In some sense, we are still dealing with the fallout of that to this day.
I long for the day Israelis will dwell in total peace and safety, forever.