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Last update - 09:36 27/08/2008 The civilian population is in danger By Moshe Arens Tags: Israel, Olmert Our Prime Minister may be on his way out, but he does not miss a chance to make superfluous public statements. During his visit to an IDF installation last week he announced to the people of Israel that in the next war Israel's major cities will be subjected to rocket attacks. This is not foreordained, but unless the government does something to prevent this severe danger to Israel, his vision is most likely to become a reality. But what has the government been doing to prevent this danger? Sixty years ago, during the War of Independence, Israel's fledgling air force did not have control of the skies over Israel, and the civilian population suffered from enemy aerial attacks. Ben-Gurion realized that a civilian population exposed to aerial attacks constitutes an existential danger to Israel. He was not prepared to enter the Sinai Campaign in 1956 until he had the assurance that French air force aircraft would assure control of the skies over Israel and provide protection for Israeli civilians while its soldiers were fighting at the front. For the next 25 years the Israel Air Force provided that protection, and the IDF could fight off the aggression of Israel's enemies, its soldiers secure in the knowledge that their families were safe. This was to change only when Palestinian terrorists began rocketing northern Israel from southern Lebanon. Menahem Begin understood that this was an intolerable situation and launched the Peace for Galilee operation in 1982, which moved the rocket launching sites out of range of Israel. The partial withdrawal from the Lebanon security zone ordered by the Peres-led national unity government some years later brought northern Israel again into the range of rockets from southern Lebanon, now launched by Hezbollah. The subsequent unilateral withdrawal ordered by Ehud Barak left northern Israel completely exposed, as Hezbollah began amassing large quantities of increasingly longer range rockets that were eventually launched against all of northern Israel during the Second Lebanon War. Advertisement The absence of an IDF ground offensive during that war designed to end these attacks against Israel's civilian population was justified by a new conception that has taken root in Israel, and expressed by Olmert's recent statement, that civilian casualties had become an integral part of life in Israel. This bizarre and dangerous conception is justified by explanations that the advent of ballistic missiles has created a new situation in which casualties on the home front have become unavoidable. The government's failure to stop the rocketing of Sderot and Ashkelon only served to ingrain this dangerous mind-set in the minds of many. So what do we have to look forward to now that Ben-Gurion's and Begin's determination to protect Israel's civilian population seems to have been abandoned? The fact of the matter is that ballistic missiles are nothing new. German V-2 rockets were launched against London toward the end of World War II. As everyone should know by now, ballistic missiles are the cheapest and most effective way to deliver explosives from a distance and an obvious choice for Israel's enemies. But this danger is not inevitable, nor is the development and deployment of interception systems designed to intercept these missiles in mid-flight, the most efficient and effective answer. The enemy should be prevented from arming itself with these weapons; if that fails, the shorter-range rockets, like the Qassams, should be put out of range by ground force action; and in the absence of these measures, the enemy has to be deterred from using these weapons against civilians. When faced by a similar danger to its civilian population by the suicide bombers of the second intifada, the IDF, after some delay, after it had become obvious that the situation had become insufferable, took resolute action to suppress this threat. Suicide bombings continue to be prevented by the presence of the IDF in Judea and Samaria. Had suicide bombings in Israel's cities continued to this day, Israel would have been in an entirely different strategic situation by now. As for the rocket threat to the civilian population, Israeli governments in recent years have done nothing to alleviate this threat, acting as if rocket attacks on the civilian population had become a way of life ("Get used to it," Olmert said to the residents of Ashkelon), and not realizing that this constant danger to Israeli civilians was bringing about a major change in the balance of power in the region and constitutes a danger to Israel's existence. The Israeli leadership has been fully aware of the change in the region's strategic balance that the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran would entail. The probability that Iran would use a nuclear weapons against Israel is very low, but the results could be catastrophic. The probability that ballistic rockets will be used against the Israeli civilian population is at this time almost a certainty, and the results would be devastating. That situation needs to be changed while there is still time. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Palin and Buchanan McCain's VP pick's ties to Pat Buchanan rankles Jewish Democrats. A diplomat's foray into politics Ex-Ambassador to U.S.: Arabs in the Galilee are a secessionist threat.   1.   Is Arens calling for peace? Good man! 09:59  |  Natallie Durson 27/08/08   2.   Wasn`t He Defense Minister? 09:59  |  Mark of Lewiston 27/08/08   3.   Moshe Arens cuts through the propaganda on Iran 10:25  |  Clickfool 27/08/08   4.   For Ahmadinejad MAD is not a constraint; it is an inducement 10:44  |  Mladen Andrijasevic 27/08/08   5.   Hi, Mark of Lewiston, the answer is not Phlanx 11:03  |  Tzfonit 27/08/08   6.   This is buffalo droppings, hot and steaming #4 11:20  |  Clickfool 27/08/08   7.   On "getting used" to rockets. 12:39  |  Stephen 27/08/08   8.   Question for Clickfool at #6 12:59  |  Brett Stein 27/08/08   9.   two countries 13:09  |  Murray 27/08/08   10.   Clickfool 13:12  |  Steve 27/08/08   11.   PEACE IS THE ANSWER 13:22  |  Neutered Observer 27/08/08   12.   To: Clickfool #6 - ever heard of the Mahdi? 13:22  |  Mladen Andrijasevic 27/08/08   13.   After raising the possibility 13:50  |  Chris Linthwaite 27/08/08   14.   More amusing lines from ClickFOOL #6 14:01  |  Jonathan S 27/08/08   15.   Arens is brilliant 14:39  |  Brod 27/08/08   16.   YOU CAN ELIMINATE ROCKETS, BUT NOT IDEAS 15:32  |  indrajaya 27/08/08   17.   "MAD" Was Much Worse Than You Can Imagine 16:12  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 27/08/08   18.   British response to V-1 and V2 16:36  |  Boris 27/08/08   19.   MASSIVE RETALIATION BY ISRAEL IS THE ONLY DETERRENT. PERIOD 16:47  |  dav zee 27/08/08   20.   5 Tzfonit - Fear of Civil War 17:09  |  Mark of Lewiston 27/08/08   21.   and will israel remove this danger? 17:29  |  ravi 27/08/08   22.   Steve #10 17:32  |  Guy From NYC 27/08/08   23.   Steve #10 17:32  |  Guy From NYC 27/08/08   24.   You`re as daft as a brush, Jonathan S # 14 18:08  |  Clickfool 27/08/08   25.   #21 Guy from NYC 18:21  |  Steve 27/08/08   26.   Aren`s article. 18:42  |  Mordy 27/08/08   27.   This is obviously correct 19:24  |  Yakov 27/08/08   28.   HAMAS ..... 19:32  |  Dagma 27/08/08   29.   Yes, Moshe, but what is your answer to missiles from Iran? 20:04  |  Fairplay 27/08/08   30.   Indrajaya 20:42  |  Jane 27/08/08   31.   Claim your rights from true sources 20:51  |  Jew from Arab cntry 27/08/08   32.   The situation in Israel n to be changed while there is still time 22:00  |  Dagma 27/08/08   33.   Ckickfool 22:02  |  THE TEACHER/INSTRUCT 27/08/08   34.   Mark of Lewiston 22:21  |  Danite 27/08/08   35.   "Peace And Terror Are The Same" 22:22  |  Joseph.E 27/08/08   36.   Mark of Lewiston #20 22:23  |  Danite 27/08/08   37.   Nu? 22:45  |  Dave 27/08/08   38.   # 11 Neutered Observer - The Saudi Peace Plan 22:55  |  Dolly 27/08/08   39.   CFOOL "Buffalo droppings" You mean Ahmad`s "Nation of Martyrs" 22:56  |  PETER SM 27/08/08   40.   Clickfool 23:05  |  Dave 27/08/08   41.   Mladen Andrijasevic - VERY CLEAR ARTICLE 23:16  |  jb 27/08/08   42.   Antidote to Rocket Threat is END THE OCCUPATION! 23:44  |  Ivar 27/08/08   43.   Mark of Lewiston #2 00:09  |  Gee 28/08/08   44.   Clickfool this time you made some sense 00:35  |  RW 28/08/08   45.   Brod 01:17  |  TonyL 28/08/08   46.   What other govt. needs to be told to protect it`s own citizens? 01:25  |  Chaim 28/08/08   47.   Kadima Rather Brainwash In Reenforcing Rooftops 01:26  |  Joseph.E 28/08/08   48.   Dolly and the Israeli Peace Plan 02:04  |  BBSNews 28/08/08   49.   Get Used To It, And More To Come. No Rest For Thieves& Murderers 02:20  |  JA 28/08/08   50.   According to GOD 03:26  |  Paul 28/08/08   51.   Moshe Arens reminisces about V2`s 03:46  |  Jim 28/08/08   52.   West In Disarray. No Leadership 04:10  |  John Isenhower 28/08/08   53.   Need combination of anti-rocket and massive retaliation 04:12  |  Voice of Reason 28/08/08   54.   N.OBSERVER Begin Made peace nobody shot him! 04:22  |  PETER SM 28/08/08   55.   #8 Brett Stein 04:44  |  Jim 28/08/08   56.   #9 Murray Thinking of making peace? 04:59  |  Jim 28/08/08   57.   #11 Neutered Observer 05:18  |  Jim 28/08/08   58.   INDRAJA Despite 100 yrs of Arab terror Israel has not gone away 05:32  |  PETER SM 28/08/08   59.   #4 Some "info" on your BERNARD LEWIS... 06:07  |  PADDY 28/08/08   60.   Cheapest, Most Effective but Untried Solution 06:34  |  Gray 28/08/08   61.   Gray on the most effective solution - 07:02 HT 07:02  |  BBSNews 28/08/08   62.   Dolly and the Israeli Peace Plan - 2nd try 07:04 HT 07:04  |  BBSNews 28/08/08   63.   NEUTERED OBSERVER.Where has Iran said it will accept Israel 07:46  |  PETER SM 28/08/08   64.   Gray in Virginia 07:54  |  Elihu 28/08/08   65.   Gray on the most effective solution - 2nd try 08:18 HT 08:18  |  BBSNews 28/08/08   66.   16 indrayaya & the Irish 08:42  |  keesmeess 28/08/08   67.   Moshe Arens Big Invention 09:41  |  Mohamad from Lebanon 28/08/08   68.   The civillian population is in danger 10:09  |  martin list, m.d. 28/08/08   69.   #26, Danite 12:25  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 28/08/08   70.   To #59 Paddy, You could have quoted Bernard Lewis’s response 15:36  |  Mladen Andrijasevic