Slam bam and we're out

As I've already said, my heart doesn't bleed for Ahmed Yassin, the man directly responsible for the murder of hundreds of Israelis. If he were put on trial, he would have been sentenced to a hundred years behind bars and slapped with a hundred death penalties.

What I would like to know is how the security cabinet reaches these decisions. I wish I were a fly on the wall of Sharon's meeting room, so I could have heard the cabinet ministers' assessment of what dangers lay in store, for Israel and the world, if they bumped off Yassin.

Did it occur to anyone in that room that a finger would automatically be pointed at us if the train in Madrid had blown up a day after the assassination? Did the ministers weigh the possibility that the whole Islamic world would go berserk? Did they give any thought to the idea that henceforth any terrorist attack, no matter where, would be blamed on us?

Not only Israel, but the whole world is in a state of alert - which proves that we are playing with fire that could spread far beyond our borders. Suddenly Bin Laden isn't alone anymore. The Israeli government is responsible not only for the safety of its citizens but for the lives of Jews the world over. Was the threat to Jews and Jewish institutions from possible acts of revenge taken into account? Did anyone consider the timing - two weeks before the Passover holiday, when Israel was expecting a huge wave of tourism for the first time in years?

Was this the time to get the whole country uptight and on guard against mega-attacks? When Sharon is coordinating his first political initiative in the territories with President Bush - is that the right moment to plunge Gaza into a tidal wave of hatred?

The defense minister believes that Hamas will grow weaker over time, especially if we keep up our assassinations of the organization's top political leaders. In his opinion, this will enable people like Dahlan to restore law and order in Gaza in the name of the Palestinian Authority, so that Israel can withdraw in an organized manner and the region can be rehabilitated with the help of international aid that will begin to flow once things are under control.

Any way you look at it, Yassin's assassination and the plan to take out his political successors are a mistake. To aim higher and go after the top dogs of Hamas is about as smart as Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount, which set off the al-Aqsa intifada, or the opening of the Western Wall tunnel in Jerusalem, which led to so much bloodshed. Every time a national conflict turns into a raging religious war, there is no limit to the hatred and violence. Only a hairs breadth separates deeds designed to win hearts in the Mahane Yehuda marketplace and acts of fiery, bloody vengeance.

Sharon is still sticking by his plan to evacuate the Gaza Strip settlements, and I don't suspect him of ordering the Yassin assassination to shoot down his own baby. But Shaul Mofaz, a gung-ho supporter of the Sharon plan, perceives Hamas as a strategic enemy that must be beaten. He doesn't want to see the IDF withdrawal from Lebanon, with Hezbollah on its tail, repeating itself in Gaza and being interpreted as a sign of weakness. As the Vietnam War dragged on and no one knew how to end it, President Johnson was advised to say "we won" and leave. Like Johnson, Mofaz believes it is possible to defeat Hamas before the pullback from Gaza.

History has shown that assassinating a political leader can stop a peace process, but it can't stop acts of terror sparked by national-religious conflict. Here, one needs to talks about a solution - not about victory. People can say whatever they like about Sharon's motives, but the most likely reason his Gaza exodus plan was born is that Israel realizes terror can't be wiped out by force. Withdrawal is withdrawal, and we're doing it for our own sake. Not "slam-bam, we beat you, man" but "slam-bam, we're out of here, man."