Israel has agreed to
another 72-hour cease-fire. The truce took effect at midnight Sunday,
and the Israeli delegation to the cease-fire talks arrived in Cairo on
Monday.
That is all well and
good, except for the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should
let it be known, in no uncertain terms, that this is the last time
Israel will abide by any such limited cease-fire.
Should Hamas resume its
rocket and mortar fire at Israel, the next cease-fire must be free of
any deadline, until such time as the cease-fire talks end, be they with a
good result or no result. There is one word missing from Israel's
current agreement to a cease-fire: "Enough!"
Rather than indulging
in parliamentary manipulations about how to increase his party's
political power in the Knesset prior to the general elections -- a
unique method patented by Yisrael Beytenu leader and Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman -- the foreign minister should initiate a move that
would make it clear to the world that cease-fires do not come for free.
He must use every
platform at his disposal, via every Israeli mission worldwide, to
illustrate that Israel is the victim here; to stress that apparently, no
one seems to want to settle the score with those indiscriminately
firing rockets at Israeli civilians; and to show how the residents of
the Gaza vicinity communities have become -- to use a phrase coined by
Israel's third Prime Minister Levi Eshkol following the Six-Day War --
"Samson the weakling."
Israel has been able to
use Iron Dome to ward off Hamas' mid- and long-rage rockets, it has
been able to destroy Hamas' tunnel infrastructure -- the cost of which
has been pegged in the billions -- and nearly 1,000 terrorists have been
killed in the fighting.
Even if the Arab world
hates Israel, the majority of the nations comprising it detest Hamas
even more. Under these circumstances, it is inconceivable that the world
-- especially Europe -- will encourage the Gaza-based terror group to
fool Israel. Our national honor should be taken into consideration, even
if it is not at the core of the diplomatic conduct Israel should be
demonstrating at this time.
This does not mean the
Israel Defense Forces should be ordered to launch another incursion of
Gaza Strip. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's basic
strategy is more practical. Whatever arrangements are reached with Hamas
will exist as "interim agreements" that will be part of a "crisis
management" policy. Until such time that the Arab world takes the reins
of power away from Hamas in favor of the Palestinian Authority's
institutions, there is no real chance of reaching a permanent agreement
in the Gaza Strip.
That is why the world
would be wise to listen to Netanyahu. What he is demanding is "long-term
calm," and while this may seem like a lot, it is significantly less
than a permanent agreement and the end to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
This is why the
alternative to Israel's refusal to follow Hamas' dictates when it comes
to limited-time cease-fires does not lie with expanding the Gaza
campaign but with perseverance: continuing with the aerial campaign,
using special ground forces when needed, and, of course, carrying out
targeted assassinations when necessary. The terrorists must not be
allowed to regain their footing.
If Jewish civilians
cannot live in peace in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, their Palestinian counterparts
will not live in peace in Gaza. This is the other side to the "quiet
equals quiet" premise.
Hamas specializes in setting
traps, as the Israeli troops have learned during Operation Protective
Edge. Netanyahu and Ya'alon must understand that this is what Hamas is
trying to do to Israel in Cairo, as well. The operational objectives
must now include one more goal -- enough.
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