Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., January 24, 2009 Tevet 28, 5769 | | Israel Time: 03:48 (EST+7)
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Our fill of restraint
By Israel Harel
Tags: gaza, hamas, qassam 

After all the recent events, neither the defense minister nor the chief of staff, the main opponents of action in the Gaza Strip, can delay it much longer. We have had our fill of restraint. But it is not the intolerable suffering of the residents of the Western Negev that is the most worrisome component of this restraint. Rather, it is the reasons that the defense minister, who in this matter is in agreement with the chief of staff and most of the officers of the General Staff, are opposed to action that will lift the immediate nightmare from civilians in the south and the indirect suffering of everyone in Israel.

The first signs of the strategy of restraint (known after going through the language laundromat as "containment") appeared back in the Yom Kippur War and reached new heights during the present decade's war on terror and helplessness in the face of Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces has given up its main ethos and has become a defensive army that mainly protects itself.

In the war on terror it operates according to the distorted "containment strategy," which is mainly avoiding initiatives that could get soldiers hurt, even if this means more civilian casualties. The result: The number of civilians hurt, whether within or over the Green Line, has been more than double that of soldiers. Soldiers, even if they were not in action, were not allowed to travel in non-bullet-proofed vehicles. The wives and children of career-army personnel who lived in the territories traveled - and some were even hurt - on dangerous roads, while their husbands were taken (and agreed to travel!) in armored vehicles.
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Ehud Barak was defense minister, then, too. It was during his tenure that the IDF's twilight period began in terms of values (among other things, the Madhat Yusuf affair and Mount Ebal), from which it recovered - very partially, as can be seen from its conduct during the Second Lebanon War and in the Western Negev - during Operation Defensive Shield. That operation, it will be recalled,took pace after voters had had enough of Barak, who did not order the IDF to act even in light of hundreds of victims of suicide bombers. The voters handed Barak one of the harshest defeats in the history of elections in Israel. A similar fate awaits him, now: Not because he is "not nice" and does not communicate, but because he does not act like a leader. The last job in which he applied the motto "those who dare, win," was when he was commander of the Matkal reconnaissance unit. Since that time it is difficult to point out any daring in his military or civilian posts.

The function of an army - how sad it is to have to remind people of this - is, first of all, to protect the lives of civilians. Since the early years of this century, Defense Minister Barak and chief of staff Shaul Mofaz have changed this axiomatic - and moral - concept, and since that time the policy has been weak in terms of values. Therefore the soldiers in army camps in the south have been taken out of Qassam range. The defense minister is studying the statistics and is finding that most of those hurt by Qassams are civilians, and that allows him to take less into consideration the harm to morale, and psychological, economic and strategic damage - not to mention to national honor - in restraint. Although the army knows that reinforcement of buildings increases the motivation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to attack, it supports reinforcement and its economic and educational costs, so it will not have to act.

Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi knows how much harm restraint does, educationally, to morale and to image, particularly the decline in the image of the army in the eyes of the nation and its enemies. But his fear of casualties outweighs his fear in areas of supreme national importance - which also shows what can be expected of him as supreme commander in an all-out war.

So that rockets will not fall again on the Negev after a full-scale attack, an internal decision must be made and strictly observed: For every infraction of the cease-fire the Hamas leadership will be struck a mortal blow after which it will not be able to command any more barrages on the Negev. Massive military force is not needed to accomplish this. If the nation (and the enemy as well) feels that the government is showing uncompromising determination, it will once again be prepared, despite the fear of an investigative committee, to take risks as in its times of greatness. It will then also go back to directing the main part of its forces and its resources to protecting civilians, rather than itself.
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  1.   Israel must respond much much stronger to the rockets!! 09:28  |  Dr Eric 25/12/08
  2.   How to stop Hamas without getting hurt 10:49  |  Rick & TC 25/12/08
  3.   it is true the enemy has been encouraged by the restraint 11:10  |  harzion 25/12/08
  4.   the lack of consistency is the weakness for years 11:36  |  victor hardman 25/12/08
  5.   Oh no! We are not allowed to defend our civilians!! 12:07  |  sharon 25/12/08
  6.   Restraint is no viable position, over-reaction isn`t, either 12:29  |  Motty Levi 25/12/08
  7.   4 victor hardman...your war mongering is disgraceful.. 13:11  |  Dutch 25/12/08
  8.   #1 Dr. Eric, isn`t there a problem there? 13:41  |  Mark B. 25/12/08
  9.   Not precise and VERY populistic! 14:00  |  BEN 25/12/08
  10.   who is Israel should?? 15:32  |  country in hostage 25/12/08
  11.   Try 100 shells into gaza for evry kassam 15:51  |  ARK 25/12/08
  12.   Our Fill of Restraint 16:45  |  Dr. Robert Briskin 25/12/08
  13.   #4 Victor, Right On 17:04  |  Barry 25/12/08
  14.   Its even easier Rick and TC 17:04  |  Ben 25/12/08
  15.   #14 17:44  |  Dan 25/12/08
  16.   best point of viw and acccurate understandings i`ve read in a whi 18:10  |  ralph 25/12/08
  17.   12 Dr. Briskin, Re : Restraint 18:27  |  Dutch 25/12/08
  18.   Conversation with a naval captain 18:34  |  Raymond in DC 25/12/08
  19.   Sending a message ...... the gloves come off 19:15  |  allang 25/12/08
  20.   Re# 1 I do agree 19:27  |  Ines 25/12/08
  21.   Re# 3 Yah I do agree... 19:35  |  Ines 25/12/08
  22.   If Left Wing Extremist Say To Attack Than it`s A TRAP!!! 19:46  |  Baruch Gold 25/12/08
  23.   Re# 4 In a state of war .... 19:49  |  Ines 25/12/08
  24.   Parachute Harel over Khan Yunus. 19:53  |  Fortuna Benmayor 25/12/08
  25.   Time to Kick some Butt 20:09  |  Ahmed 25/12/08
  26.   Re# 9 Well also Ariel Sharon 20:13  |  Ines 25/12/08
  27.   Re# 11 Well ...right what would the 20:16  |  Ines 25/12/08
  28.   Re# Yah... Engough is enough 20:18  |  Ines 25/12/08
  29.   Re # 13 Yah ...Israel... 20:22  |  Ines 25/12/08
  30.   Re# 14 What nation are You talking about ?? 20:25  |  Ines 25/12/08
  31.   AND THEN WHAT? 00:10  |  Mark of Lewiston 26/12/08
  32.   Oh, I forgot... ! 01:16  |  Fortuna Benmayor 26/12/08
  33.   Hamas continues to show its true colors 01:19  |  Alan 26/12/08
  34.   Be explicit, please 01:22  |  Murray 26/12/08
  35.   Re: #8/Voor Mark B. van Mokum 01:39  |  Motty Levi 26/12/08
  36.   Barak`s response 01:44  |  JoJo 26/12/08
  37.   To # 31--turn them over to Egypt. 01:48  |  US CITIZEN 26/12/08
  38.   Israel broke theceasefire and now blames Hamas 01:57  |  Abe 26/12/08
  39.   For Mark of Lewiston # 31 02:30  |  Fortuna Benmayor 26/12/08
  40.   I am afraid to take an Arab taxi in Israel 03:01  |  TOMY 26/12/08
  41.   What restraint? 03:10  |  Edithann 26/12/08
  42.   #17:Dutch you have it backwards as always 03:11  |  DOC HOLLIDAY 26/12/08
  43.   #4 victor hardman..Spot On..They must Go,GO And Go and no 03:15  |  Ross 26/12/08
  44.   #4 victor hardman.as an addendum especially no meddling by theUS 03:16  |  Ross 26/12/08
  45.   Why the leftists are now demanding a response 03:24  |  Arie 26/12/08
  46.   Restraint not too bad stategy 03:49  |  Jasper 26/12/08
  47.   #31 What happen next? 04:34  |  Avraham G. 26/12/08
  48.   Harel is Right 05:01  |  Yisroel 26/12/08
  49.   Fortuna Benmayor 05:11  |  Peter Williams 26/12/08
  50.   The looney tune Israel Harel is on the couch again 05:23  |  Dutch 26/12/08
  51.   You have saying this since day one. You are loosing. 05:35  |  American 26/12/08
  52.   No Peace only on Israel terms ! 05:36  |  Akram Zekaria 26/12/08
  53.   Fortuna - The Problem of Governing 06:13  |  Mark of Lewiston 26/12/08
  54.   Palestinian despair Abe 06:40  |  William Fraser 26/12/08
  55.   Try 100 shells into gaza for evry kassam 06:47  |  James Ryan 26/12/08
  56.   Peter Williams - Back to Square One 06:52  |  Mark of Lewiston 26/12/08
  57.   Appeasement 07:24  |  Eugene Kravis 26/12/08
  58.   Peter Williams # 49, you are absolutely right. 08:08  |  Fortuna Benmayor 26/12/08
  59.   Peter Williams - I agree& another suggestion 09:13  |  sharon 26/12/08
  60.   Response To Terror 09:37  |  Michael Wildman 26/12/08
  61.   Mark of Lewiston 10:31  |  Michael 26/12/08
  62.   #50: Dutch would one of those rules... 15:14  |  DOC HOLLIDAY 26/12/08
  63.   #49 Peter Williams.Quite right on all your points,but. 16:23  |  KATHY 26/12/08
  64.   61 Michael - Counterinsurgency 20:03  |  Mark of Lewiston 26/12/08
  65.   49~ Peter Williams. All that you said is right..But.. 22:55  |  Akram Zekaria 26/12/08
  66.   #7 23:43  |  Jane 26/12/08
  67.   #17 23:46  |  Jane 26/12/08
  68.   Doc holliday, My response 01:08  |  Dutch 27/12/08
  69.   #68: Dutch are you serious? A myth? My response 04:18  |  DOC HOLLIDAY 28/12/08
  70.   Rick & TC has the best soulution 02:55  |  JR 24/01/09
  71.   "Dr Eric" You are the man. CRUSH HAMAS 02:57  |  JR 24/01/09
 Read & React
UN rights official: Gaza evokes memories of Warsaw Ghetto
Responses: 175
Obama: We will aggressively seek lasting Mideast peace
Responses: 142
Dutch MP behind film on radical Islam: Decision to prosecute me is political
Responses: 71
Israel to approve aid for IDF officers accused of Gaza war crimes
Responses: 53
Shashi Tharoor: India watched in envy as Israel attacked Gaza
Responses: 37


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