Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., February 20, 2008 Adar1 14, 5768 | | Israel Time: 15:49 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 10:37 19/02/2008 No huddling in ghettos By Yoel Marcus Tags: Israel The government proclaims the army will uproot terror from Gaza and stop the Qassam fire. Yet it has decided to allocate NIS 350 million to shellproof thousands of homes in Sderot and other towns around Gaza. What are the citizens supposed to understand from that? That the government does not believe that commando units, the "rehabilitated" army or the "major offensive" planned for Gaza can end the Qassams? That on the eve of Israel's 60th anniversary, we're back to the era of "stockade and tower" fortifications, doomed forever to huddle in a ghetto? The government usually warns Israelis not to travel to Sinai around holiday time. Most Sinai-lovers ignore these warnings, and when springtime rolls around, they flock there in droves. Now one arch-terrorist bites the dust and the government is telling us to adopt a ghetto mentality when traveling, go into a self-imposed siege and conceal our identity. In short, to behave like "Shimshon der nebechdiker," as prime minister Levi Eshkol wisecracked in Yiddish back in the 1960s - poor Samson, the strong man crippled by insecurity. Governments are supposed to make their citizens feel safe, not scare them. Those who gave the green light to bump off Mughniyah had to take into account that such an act could have dire consequences, such as Jewish centers and Israeli embassies being blown up, or Haifa being bombarded by missiles. They had to consider ahead of time whether eliminating this man was worth it. Advertisement Sometimes it is preferable to keep an eye on an arch-terrorist to thwart his plans, rather than getting rid of him and remaining in the dark about what he was busy cooking up. In public, the defense minister claimed that Mughniyah's assassination was a serious blow to global terror. Mughniyah was responsible for the murder of hundreds of civilians - and he killed many more Americans and Arabs than Jews, by the way. But after so many years of fighting terror, we should know by now that cutting down a terrorist boss does not solve the terrorism problem in the long run. On the contrary: We got rid of Sayyad Abbas Musawi and who did we get instead? Nasrallah, who turned out to be a charismatic but cruel leader who dragged Iran into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an accomplice to terror. We assassinated Yehiya Ayash, the "engineer," through a cell phone bomb. What did that get us? Dozens of suicide bombings in the heart of Israeli cities. Restraint is also power, as Ariel Sharon liked to say when he decided that not doing something would better serve Israeli security. The graveyards are full of irreplaceable people. We assassinated Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and what happened? The opposite of what we expected: Hamas grew and grew until it took over Gaza. There were many times we considered bumping off Yasser Arafat, the father of institutionalized terror against Israel. And then one day, during the first Lebanon War in 1982, prime minister Menachem Begin received an urgent message from the General Staff that army snipers had Arafat in their crosshairs. Should they go ahead? Begin, who detested Arafat and called him "the man with hairy face," said no. Later, he confided to me, "A few hours of glory would have cost us thousands of lives." It is important to track down terrorist leaders, but better to keep tabs on them than to kill them. Mughniyah's assassination will not make up one iota for the fiasco of the Second Lebanon War, let alone the decrepit state of the army after 20 years of policing the territories to safeguard the occupation. You could think that if Olmert did okay the assassination, he did it in order to rebuild himself as a determined, decisive leader. Go on, fly around the world. Do your shopping as noisily as you are accustomed to, and speak Hebrew. We don't want to live in a ghetto. Not in the south of Israel and not outside of Israel. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Intrigue at Heathrow According to the BBC, an IDF general dodged arrest as U.K. police feared shootout. Decency in remission A Ramat Yishai widow is suspected of faking cancer to receive donations.   1.   yoel marcus "keep an eye on muganiyah" 11:31  |  assaf simhoni 19/02/08   2.   more apologist drivel 11:38  |  don 19/02/08   3.   no huddling in ghettos 11:39  |  mike 19/02/08   4.   under observation 12:06  |  nina 19/02/08   5.   #3 Mike 12:08  |  Albert 19/02/08   6.   i love... 12:27  |  scallywag 19/02/08   7.   Marcus is right 12:33  |  pal 19/02/08   8.   Defaitists leftist as usual, ready to surrender 12:43  |  maurice 19/02/08   9.   Jump from the window Marcus,you burden Israel with expenditures 13:15  |  Absolute Sweden 19/02/08   10.   Mike from Arizon 13:29  |  Ehud 19/02/08   11.   yoel and the day the sun went out 13:51  |  v hardman 19/02/08   12.   Wrong message- A lot more terrorists would enter profession 13:55  |  Sam 19/02/08   13.   maurice 13:55  |  scallywag 19/02/08   14.   mike 13:58  |  scallywag 19/02/08   15.   absolute sweden 14:00  |  scallywag 19/02/08   16.   v hardman 14:02  |  scallywag 19/02/08   17.   LEARN FROM SHARON? BRAVO ISRAEL 14:33  |  indrajaya 19/02/08   18.   Good gracious Mr. Marcus 14:59  |  sh 19/02/08   19.   This guy can`t think straight 15:14  |  Ilan 19/02/08   20.   More Self delusional tales from Marcus the Itnatkut supporter 15:16  |  Oiy Va Voiy 19/02/08   21.   Tax-audit for bank-robbers, not arrest 15:54  |  B 19/02/08   22.   Who is the terrorist ? 15:57  |  Jan Elshout 19/02/08   23.   Give Them Candy and Foreign Aid 15:59  |  B 19/02/08   24.   Yoel, " I almost fell off my chair", Marcus is right... 16:33  |  Smadar 19/02/08   25.   Voice of Reason 16:51  |  new_york_loner 19/02/08   26.   maurice - 2. try 17:00  |  scallywag 19/02/08   27.   mike 17:01  |  scallywag 19/02/08   28.   marcus` ghettos 17:35  |  elliot 19/02/08   29.   hardman`s sunset 17:59  |  sh 19/02/08   30.   Marcus` Track Record = Abysmal, But He Still Thinks He`s a Genius 18:05  |  Tod Zuckerman 19/02/08   31.   Postscript 18:17  |  Esther 19/02/08   32.   To#21 Elliot 19:09  |  pal- 19/02/08   33.   No Solution 19:23  |  Robert Haymond 19/02/08   34.   But what about a government which was elected 20:11  |  Mark Lincoln 19/02/08   35.   We killed Hizbullah Sheikh Musawi and got Sheikh Nasrallah 22:36  |  Yossi Cronenberg 19/02/08   36.   Mughniyah 23:15  |  P. J. Casey 19/02/08   37.   No better way to keep a tab on them than to kill them. 00:07  |  Sam 20/02/08   38.   Re scallywag #27 00:12  |  Esther 20/02/08   39.   Re absolute #9 00:20  |  Esther 20/02/08   40.   Yossi Cronenberg - confusing the product with the process 00:56  |  Mark Lincoln 20/02/08   41.   The Puzzle! 01:10  |  GPWS1 20/02/08   42.   when in their grave, you know where they are 01:18  |  jewish doctor 20/02/08   43.   Lesson Never Learned 02:29  |  Knott Bushman 20/02/08   44.   Bad logic--terrorism exists because too many terrorist still live 05:03  |  Voice of Reason 20/02/08   45.   If I had the ability to know exactly where 05:39  |  Mark Lincoln 20/02/08   46.   Marcus Pleads Innocent By Reason Of Arabist Inclined Anti-Semite 05:42  |  Joseph . E 20/02/08   47.   If you can finger the man 05:45  |  Mark Lincoln 20/02/08   48.   esther 07:44  |  scallywag 20/02/08   49.   What is this idiocy. 08:24  |  devin 20/02/08   50.   What is Wrong With Some Israelies ? 08:39  |  Tod Zuckerman 20/02/08   51.   #40 mark misses the point again ! 08:57  |  v hardman 20/02/08   52.   Mar cus it`s you who have the ghetto mentality 09:39  |  Israel 20/02/08   53.   Yoel Marcus, When are you going to stop missing the obvious ? 09:51  |  Dutch 20/02/08   54.   albert 10:11  |  mike 20/02/08   55.   46 Fear mongering to justify murder ... 10:13  |  Dutch 20/02/08   56.   #10 10:17  |  mike 20/02/08   57.   Leftie Esther and the Creature 10:18  |  Absolute Sweden 20/02/08   58.   Good start Marcus. Wrong conclusion 14:38  |  Jason 20/02/08

Today Online Israel still building in settlements despite Olmert's promise Responses: 152 Abbas cool to aide's call for Kosovo-like statehood declaration Responses: 99 Amira Hass: Israel is stealing Palestinian land, private or not Responses: 60 Peace-minded residents of Gaza and Sderot share joint blog Responses: 28 Uzi Benziman: Olmert thinks peace is a deed done through trickery Responses: 15 More Headlines 13:30 Abbas cool to aide's call for Kosovo-like declaration of statehood 14:25 Netanyahu: Olmert government taking measures to cede Jerusalem 15:43 Chelsea's Israeli soccer coach sent anti-Semitic death threat 09:18 Israel still building in West Bank settlements despite PM's pledge 10:36 Beit Hakerem - The last secular holdout in Jerusalem 15:05 Iranian opposition group: Tehran accelerated nuclear program 14:26 Ahmadinejad calls Israel 'germ' born amid Western bid to dominate Mideast 12:28 Winograd panel member questioned over political considerations 11:52 Comptroller: The president's bureau is not exempt from inspection 12:48 MKs to vote on law easing women's ability to get restraining orders 11:20 Obama sweeps Wisconsin and Hawaii, securing 10 straight wins 05:41 Business owners in north told to return Lebanon war compensation Previous Editions Select Day 19 feb 18 feb 17 feb 15 feb 14 feb 13 feb 12 feb 11 feb 10 feb 08 feb 07 feb 06 feb

Special Offers Advertisement Marina Royale Herzelia Pituach Your Luxurious Suite While Staying in Israel Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Dead Sea Salt Beauty and skin care from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 10% off! Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

Jewish World The Jewish World edition of Haaretz.com and Haaretz Newspaper offers extensive coverage of Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora, Jerusalem, Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews, European Jewry, British Jewry, French Jewry, American Jewry, synagogues, Jewish museums, Kashrut, kosher food, Reform, Orthodox and Conservative communities, the Holocaust, Jewish conversion, circumcision, marriage and intermarriage.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved