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Last update - 20:17 28/10/2007
One, two, three, testing
By Uzi Benziman
tags: Israel

During the week whose the Torah portion has Abraham urging God not to impose a collective punishment on Sodom, the military establishment decided to impose harsh sanctions against the residents of the Gaza Strip: To harass them by cutting the electricity and fuel supplies. Unlike the biblical story, however, the degree of conviction that can be ascribed to Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his advisers regarding the necessity of the punishment is not absolute. They call the move a "test": If it works, fine; if not, they'll think of something else.

Even if one ignores the moral significance of the decision and focuses only on its expected benefits, one must conclude that it should be reversed immediately. According to reports by Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel in Friday's Haaretz, the Israel Defense Forces recommended the sanctions even though it knew they would not achieve the declared goal: to stop the rocket and mortar shells. The sweeping collective punishment was aimed at a different target: readying the Israeli public for a major, sustained ground operation deep in the Gaza Strip and persuading it, especially the residents of Sderot and its environs, that the IDF is "doing everything" to stop the Qassam rockets. That motivation functions almost as an alien consideration in the context of the issue at hand: If the military establishment knows from the outset that the harsh measure it is about to institute cannot achieve its goal, then why did it decide to recommend it anyway? This question becomes even more significant given that the person championing the decision is Ehud Barak, the man who accused Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his cabinet (prior to joining it) of being overly hasty in launching what became the Second Lebanon War. He is the one preaching calm and collected action on the military and diplomatic front in light of the state's sensitive situation.

Experience teaches that subjecting the Palestinians to collective punishment - roadblocks, curfews or economic pressure - has not brought the desired result. Just the opposite: it increases the terror organizations' motivation to strike at Israel, and increases the number of potential suicide bombers. In addition, the use of collective punishment damages Israel's image and efforts to gain international understanding for its position in the conflict with the Palestinians. Common sense would thus suggest avoiding this method. To put it simply, in terms of costs versus benefits - the idea of harassing Gazans to the point of depriving them of fuel and electricity deserves to be shelved in light of the price Israel will have to pay for implementing this plan. It can be inferred based on what Olmert told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday that he understands this: A statement released after the two leaders met in Jerusalem said the prime minister promised his guest that Israel would not cause a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. If that is the case, then what is the point of publicizing Israel's plans to impose wide-ranging sanctions on Gaza's population? Either the intention is to harass them mercilessly, in which case one may question the value of the prime minister's promise to the PA leader; or to harass them only to a "tolerable" degree - in which case, what's the point in harassing them?
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There is a moral message to the decision, too: When Israel assassinates terrorists and injures innocent bystanders, it claims in its defense that that was not its intention, and that the terror organizations' operational methods force it to act as it does. It is doubtful that this argument passes the test of morality, since some might argue that if Israel knows from the start that its actions will harm innocent victims, then it should avoid such actions. How much more so when the state walks, eyes wide open, into a moral and legal trap, in preparing to knowingly impose a collective punishment whose purpose is to harm tens of thousands of completely innocent people. So what should be done to combat the Qassams? Instead of trying economic siege and power outages and limited raids and ground campaigns and targeted assassinations - how about trying to reach a comprehensive settlement with the Palestinians founded on a genuine Israeli willingness to give up the territories?
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  1.   Uzi Benziman. First, RELOCATE to SDEROT. Live THERE. THEN write. 09:38  |  Vittorio 28/10/07
  2.   excellent article 09:56  |  Anon 28/10/07
  3.   Nothing will help unless the Egypt stops to provide them weapons 10:06  |  e.m 28/10/07
  4.   ofcourse it won`t be effective 10:11  |  rose 28/10/07
  5.   #1, Vittorio 10:22  |  Anton 28/10/07
  6.   No giants in Israel 10:25  |  Clickfool 28/10/07
  7.   MAYBE it will cut down Islamo fascist broadcasts on Hamas TV 10:38  |  PETER S.M. 28/10/07
  8.   HARD to make Qassems without electricity 10:42  |  PETER S.M. 28/10/07
  9.   And where do you live Vittorio? 10:59  |  David 28/10/07
  10.   Avraham Prayed for *Mercy* For Sodom: Benzimen Reveals His Bias 11:38  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 28/10/07
  11.   To Clickfool #6 ZIonist shionist 12:03  |  Levi 28/10/07
  12.   Whatever 12:09  |  Levi 28/10/07
  13.   starving people is always part and parcel of beng 12:15  |  American living here 28/10/07
  14.   "AMERICAN living here" Khalid nobody is starving or aiming for it 12:21  |  PETER S.M. 28/10/07
  15.   As usual, Israel takes aim at Hamas, then shoots own foot 12:34  |  Natallie Durson 28/10/07
  16.   Complete ignorance of leftist writers 12:44  |  Binyamin Dissen 28/10/07
  17.   Very fine article indeed 13:27  |  Johnboy 28/10/07
  18.   NOT to impose collective punishment on Sodom 13:29  |  Shlomo from Tel-Aviv 28/10/07
  19.   subjecting sderot citizens to collective punishment is ok 13:29  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 28/10/07
  20.   It is most idiotic to supply your enemy 13:50  |  KUTW 28/10/07
  21.   Alright, Let`s Just Destroy Them 14:15  |  David Samson 28/10/07
  22.   How true 14:25  |  ben 28/10/07
  23.   Uzi again supporting collective rights w/o responsibility 14:41  |  David Teich 28/10/07
  24.   To c`fool obvious common sense 14:57  |  Jasmine Murphy 28/10/07
  25.   For Levi # 11 15:08  |  Clickfool 28/10/07
  26.   Making things worse 15:13  |  Tosefta 28/10/07
  27.   The result of keeping Hamas out 15:14  |  Tosefta 28/10/07
  28.   Benziman-Got a Better Plan to Stop Kassams? 15:21  |  Jane 28/10/07
  29.   Jude-o-Fascist Collective Punishment is soooo Jewish 15:29  |  POP 28/10/07
  30.   For David Samson # 21 15:30  |  Clickfool 28/10/07
  31.   #11 to Levi (cc Clickfool) 15:38  |  Don Camillo 28/10/07
  32.   Uzib wants to say Germans were unjustly and cruelly punished 15:52  |  Absolute Sweden 28/10/07
  33.   #32, Absolute Sweden 16:27  |  Anton 28/10/07
  34.   oh no no no, benziman...it`s not "collective punishment" 17:01  |  eric 28/10/07
  35.   meanness of heart and spirit 17:02  |  margaret 28/10/07
  36.   For Jasmine Murphy # 24 17:09  |  Clickfool 28/10/07
  37.   immoral and willful harm to civilians 17:32  |  kevin 28/10/07
  38.   Margie from Pretoria 17:40  |  Walid 28/10/07
  39.   NO NEED FOR PUNITIVE MESURES., RETAKE GAZA,W.BANK,SECURE BORDERS 17:40  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 28/10/07
  40.   Two words missing from this article: 17:41  |  Tipton 28/10/07
  41.   EFFECTIVNESS 17:46  |  Daniel 28/10/07
  42.   15.Natallie Durson : Poor hamas terrorists 17:49  |  KUTW 28/10/07
  43.   AMAZING! in L.A. 17:53  |  Daniel 28/10/07
  44.   Never in History were cross border attacks rewarded by fuel deliv 18:06  |  Rob 28/10/07
  45.   31Don Camillo`s double historical ignorance 18:23  |  Rob 28/10/07
  46.   #19 so called peacenik Marggie Ex SA 18:24  |  Labhras 28/10/07
  47.   #21 David beats war drums from a distance 18:48  |  Labhras 28/10/07
  48.   to Jane #28 19:18  |  zeev 28/10/07
  49.   to Rob #44 19:44  |  zeev 28/10/07
  50.   #45 Rob in Ann Arbor. 19:56  |  Labhras 28/10/07
  51.   38.Walid 20:00  |  KUTW 28/10/07
  52.   Walid the racist 20:03  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 28/10/07
  53.   A stronger lesson from Sodom 20:12  |  Tosefta 28/10/07
  54.   Collective punishment(2ndtry) 20:19  |  Danite 28/10/07
  55.   Walid from the the ME 20:20  |  Danite 28/10/07
  56.   Jane # 28 & Rob # 44 20:24  |  American in NY 28/10/07
  57.   46, Labhras - Margie 20:32  |  Gerald 28/10/07
  58.   WORTH TESTING:IF IT FAILS ALL THE POWER SHOULD BE CUT 20:37  |  D.Raconian 28/10/07
  59.   49 Zeev 1.Irrelevant to what I said. 2. Wrong History. 20:43  |  Rob 28/10/07
  60.   Margie from Jo`burg 20:45  |  Walid 28/10/07
  61.   Labhras (#46) Tell us Labhras what has Margie done to you? 20:45  |  Gil 28/10/07
  62.   50Lahbrass You sure don`t put your money where your mouth is 20:49  |  Rob 28/10/07
  63.   #45 Certainly - give me your bank details. 20:54  |  Don Camillo 28/10/07
  64.   Walid (#38) 1.6 Billion people in the world don?t have Electricit 21:17  |  Gil 28/10/07
  65.   49 Zeev 1.Irrelevant to what I said. 2. Wrong History. 21:18  |  Rob 28/10/07
  66.   #52 Margie the so called peacenik 21:47  |  Labhras 28/10/07
  67.   #52 margie in Tel Aviv 21:55  |  tbora 28/10/07
  68.   Chinese wisdom for Slowman 22:05  |  Uzi Benziman 28/10/07
  69.   #53 Gerald another new poster drops in for a "quickie" 22:18  |  Labhras 28/10/07
  70.   David Samson #21, what are you doing in Toronto then? 22:40  |  ELIAS KHOURY 28/10/07
  71.   David Teich #23, do not make decisions for Arabs 22:43  |  ELIAS KHOURY 28/10/07
  72.   Yes, half-assed punishment will not work 23:06  |  garrick 28/10/07
  73.   A stronger lesson from Sodom 23:07  |  Tosefta 28/10/07
  74.   before long the standar of living will be back to when it was 23:23  |  victor hardman 28/10/07
  75.   The idiotic concept of "collective punishment" 23:27  |  Fortuna Benmayor 28/10/07
  76.   Anton,Allies should have provided fuel for Nazi industry,nicht wa 23:45  |  Absolute Sweden 28/10/07
  77.   margie in Tel Aviv and suffering 00:04  |  Truth 29/10/07
  78.   But the collective punishment of Sderot will be effective, 00:23  |  Chick 29/10/07
  79.   Uzi Benziman said it perfectly 00:41  |  nobodysacred 29/10/07
  80.   49 Zeev 1.Irrelevant to my point. 2. Wrong History. [3rd try] 00:59  |  Rob 29/10/07
  81.   63Truth The truth: Israel would leave Gaza alone if no Qassams 01:15  |  Rob