A Bittersweet Battle in Gaza

Israel's attack on Hamas in Gaza, which started today, is a bittersweet moment.

It's relieving to see Hamas, which has been firing rockets into southern Israel for months and still holds IDF soldier Gilat Shalit for over two years, finally feeling some pain. Hopefully, Israel will be relentless in its attacks and force upon Hamas a new reality in which it understands a price will be paid for any future instigation.

However, today's violence is, undeniably, also terribly saddening. Palestinians in Gaza could have been better off had it not been for Hamas. Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in August 2005 offered an opportunity for the Palestinians there to exercise self-rule and establish a nascent state. Hamas failed them, but Palestinians also failed themselves for electing Hamas to power. As a Ha'aretz columnist wrote, "Nothing has been more instrumental in harming the cause of Palestinian independence than Hamas."

Instead of building a state, Hamas began building an army, with dozens of new security installations, thousands of new recruits, and tens of thousands of rockets and anti-aircraft missiles smuggled via Egypt.

Hamas and Palestinian Authority leaders need to be pressured to help Palestinians along a different path toward reconciliation with Israel. Unfortunately, they won't hear that from Israel's closest Arab allies. Egypt reportedly condemned Israel's attacks today, which Jordan's King Abdullah said "targeted innocent women and children." These Arab "allies" should know better. They should put the blame squarely on Hamas, not Israel.

Instead, the relief from Hamas rule which Palestinians deserve will be delayed and will come only once Palestinians, collectively, have tired of war and rise up against their corrupt rulers demanding change. If that time comes only in a hundred or more years, so be it. For only then will a lasting peace be within reach.

Abbas's True Colors

The United States, and much of the rest of the world, often makes out Palestinian President Mahmous Abbas to be a "moderate" committed to peace with Israel. They do so because they want to see the "peace process" move forward, and for this happen, they have legitimized Abbas as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. But Abbas continues to demonstrate weak leadership when it comes to taking steps necessary to forge a lasting peace.

This weekend in Hebron, for example, on his first ever visit there since becoming Palestinian President in 2005, Abbas reportedly told Palestinians "Hebron is ours" and that every Jewish settler must leave Hebron for there to be peace.

If there were true peace, Jews and Palestinians would live alongside each other, without any forced relocations. To foster reconciliation, Abbas should instill in Palestinians coexistence with Jews, instead of advocating separation. He should publicly and repeatedly call upon Palestinians to bury the hatchet and welcome Jews as permanent neighbors and not for their ouster. Abbas's refusal to do so demonstrates, once again, that he is a coward, a failed leader, and that his true pursuit is the elimination of the Jewish presence from historic Palestine one part at a time.

Israeli Papers Call for Tough Response

I'm glad to see that three major Israeli dailies, including left-wing Ha'aretz, agree with me that, in the face of constant rocket fire by Palestinians in Gaza, Israel must restore its deterrence.

Ha'aretz says to "leave no stone unturned" to restore calm but, sadly, stops short of endorsing the only meaningful action that would be effective -- military action. Right-of-center Yisrael Hayom, on the other hand, gets it exactly right, advising that military action would make Israel's enemies "think twice" before firing more rockets.

By sitting on its hands, Israel's current government thinks it wins itself sympathy and goodwill internationally. This is unlikely. With few exceptions, the world will be no more willing to see Israel's point of view and allow it to action it feels is necessary, whenever that might be. The effect of Israel's hesitance is to make it appear weak and vulnerable and to further erode its image as a strong, vibrant country not worth bullying.

Israel Shouldn't Beg for a Ceasefire

Hamas says a "ceasefire" with Israel since June is over. Hamas won't extend the ceasefire because Israel has blockaded the Gaza Strip and conducted periodic raids there in response to rocket fire and terrorist planning. Israel wished to see the ceasefire continue.

Hamas is importing advanced weapons into Gaza via Egypt, and it continues to hold IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, whom it captured in a cross-border raid two and a half years ago. Now, Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorists are renewing rocket fire into Israel in an attempt to provoke an escalation.

The solution to this nonsense out of Gaza is for Israel to send a strong, unequivocal message that violence from there will not be tolerated. And preventing attempts to seize additional soldiers requires sending a strong message that the price for doing so is simply too high.

When Hamas seized Shalit, Israel should have undertood, like is the case with Hizballah in Lebanon, that the terrorists did not intend to return him alive. Israel should have launched a rescue as soon as possible and pounded Hamas targets until the group either relented or understood that provoking Israel simply is too costly. Gaza should suffer such overwhelming force from Israel that its terrorist rulers would never again contemplate provoking Israel. The price of doing so must be judged as simply too high. Israel must reestablish deterrence.

Palestinian Newspaper Ads Make Demands

At least one major Israeli newspaper also has issues with those newspaper ads the Palestinian Authority has taken out in Israel and which I talked about last week.

Yediot Achronot says the ads resemble ultimatums more than they do invitations to negotiations where disputes might be resolved amicably.

I am glad to see Israeli outlets questioning the sincerity of this Palestinian tactic.

Wrong Target Market

The Jerusalem Post, citing the Associated Press, reports that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will begin running advertisements in Israeli newspapers calling upon Israelis to back a peace plan proposed by Arab leaders. The plan calls for a full withdrawal to pre-1967 borders and for a "just" resolution to the Palestinian refugee issue, which the Arabs mean to involve resettlement within Israel. Both would jeopardize Israeli security.

However, Abbas has it wrong. The real impediment to peace, the real people who need convincing, are the Palestinian people Abbas supposedly leads. Israelis won't, and shouldn't, agree to such farfetched concessions until they trust that Palestinians have buried their terrorist hatchets, are tired of fighting, are willing to confront the terrorists among them who kill civilians and disrupt peace efforts, and are ready for compromise.

Abbas's ads should appear in Palestinian newspapers and call upon his people to prepare themselves for a final reconciliation with Israel, for the good of their children and their children's children, etc. If it's a matter of money, I'm sure the U.S. government could foot the bill. Unfortunately, it's a matter of cowardliness and failed leadership and an underlying commitment to perpetuating the conflict and to Israel's ultimate defeat. Until Palestinians have true, responsible leaders, Israelis should resist such insincere media hoaxes.

Syria's Outcry Is Probably a Ruse

According to media reports, Damascus is fuming about a U.S. helicopter raid into Syrian territory that reportedly killed eight persons. Damascus sent an angry demarche to the U.S. embassy there and disinvited a senior U.S. diplomat for talks about advancing the peace process with Israel. Damascus also reportedly has closed American schools operating in Syria.

Publicly, for Arab audiences, Syria wants to assert its sovereignty and independence and appear at odds with a U.S. Administration very much disliked in the region. After high-level meetings in NY recently with senior U.S. diplomats, Damascus also wants to show itself as not as cozy with the Americans. However, privately, the Syrians probably are relieved by the U.S. attack, which killed al-Qaeda's senior planner in Syria. As was seen as recently as late September, Syria is one of al-Qaeda's growing targets. A suicide bombing in Damascus reportedly killed at least 17 and injured almost two dozen others, all civilians.

The Syrians should be more grateful that they have the U.S. military to help them confront radical Islamic terrorists taking root within Syrian borders. But to expect Syria to show appreciation and cooperation with the U.S. probably is way too much to ask.

New Twist to Palestinian Prisoner Releases

The Associated Press reported today that Israel has freed 24 Palestinian prisoners who are members of the al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

The Brigades draw their ranks from the Fatah movement. They initially were funded by Palestinian Authority President Yasir Arafat. Many serve in the PA's security forces and moonlight in the Brigades while off-duty. Most probably continue to receive not only salaries from the PA but funding for the anti-Israel activity to keep them happy and as tacit support for their activity.

The irony in the most recent release is that Israel reportedly has required that eight of the 24 return to prison each night at 9pm. I can just see it now -- the eight actually showing up each night, knocking on the prison door requesting to be let in. This is a wild expection and I hope the press will report on whether or not it actually happens.

Israel, once again, dupes itself into thinking that goodwill gestures such as this prisoner release will make the Palestinians take the decisions necessary to facilitate a lasting peace. Such moves actually embolden the Palestinians to continue to make insatiable demands, thereby postponing any possible peace.

A Better Deal Sought to Shalit

The Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronot doesn't want to see the same kind of one-sided deal struck for the return of Gilad Shalit, held now for two years by Hamas in Gaza.

It says a deal like that recently struck with Hizballah will only encourage further attempts by terrorists to seize Israel soldiers, and that releasing terrorists in exchange for soldiers risks fresh attacks against Israeli civilians:

When we say that Gilad Shalit must be released at 'any price', we mean the entire price that we will pay. We will set murderers free. We will cause many of them to go back to killing us. We will give impetus to encouraging terrorism and we will go back to dying on buses, in malls and in communities on the periphery. This is as insane as it is immoral".

The editors suggest that "doing everything" means, "tightening the siege on the Gaza Strip" until, "they understand that Gilad Shalit is not a bargaining chip but a bone in the throat, not an asset but a liability". "Suddenly" the paper suggests, "it will dawn on them that we are not suckers but a country that gets nervous when one of its soldiers is alive in a hole in Gaza and they continue to play with us". The editors defend the foregoing as "The moral, security and logical step that must be taken on behalf of Gilad Shalit and us. It is less risky than releasing hundreds of murderers and it is more moral seven-fold". The paper avers that "If we do not change the rules of their brutal game, we will continue to be kidnapped and blackmailed. We must try and release Gilad Shalit at any price, but the price must be theirs".

(courtesy: Israel Government Press Office)

Release Terrorist Earned a Degree in Prison

Samir Kuntar, 45, the Lebanese terrorist who had been jailed 29 years in Israel for shooting dead an Israeli man in front of his four-year-old daughter and then killing the girl by crushing her head between a rock and the butt of his rifle, was freed today by Israel, along with four other terrorists, in return for two dead IDF soldiers.

The Associated Press reports that, while in Israeli prison, Kuntar learned Hebrew and earned a degree in sociology. It's remarkable that he had such opportunities in Israel. Certainly, he would never have had them while a terrorist in Lebanon.

Wouldn't it be great if Kuntar returned home and said to his countrymen, "You know, I am grateful to the Israelis for teaching me a foreign language and allowing me to learn and earn a degree. Those 29 years taught me that Israelis are humans, too, and we should respect them."

I know. Dream on.

Apparently, as recently as this year, Kuntar wrote to Hizballah leader Nasrallah and told him his place will be "at the battlefront." He has also said he will not apologize for his murderous actions and that "the struggle continues."

Israel-Hizballah "Prisoner Swap"

The Wall Street Journal on Monday reported on its front page that Hizballah and Israel "will swap prisoners" on Wednesday under a deal mediated by the United Nations.

At first read, most would agree this sounds like terrific news --and how good of the UN to help, right? -- but it is not. Perhaps for brevity, the Journal omitted the crucial fact that the two soldiers Israel is to receive from the deal are dead. Hizballah, on the other hand, will get five live "fighters," plus 199 bodies of Lebanese and Palestinian others, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.

For some Israelis, this is a victory, as Israel, once again, shows how much it values and respects human life by "bringing home" its dead soldiers, Goldwasser and Regev. Their families reportedly are thrilled at the deal and lobbied hard for it. I sympathize with what they are going through and probably would act similarly were I in their shoes, but their position nevertheless is selfish, for it puts at risk the security of Israel and lives of other IDF soldiers.

After celebrations in Lebanon wind down, Hizballah will get busy planning, if it is not already, its next cross-border ambush to seize a fresh batch of Israeli soldiers. If such "swaps" were unachieveable, Hizballah would not try to achieve them. Sure, Israel will welcome its dead soldiers home but, soon, more will be taken, dead or alive, never to be seen alive again. This is too high a cost that Israeli should no longer be expected to pay. It's hard to say "no" to such deals, but ultimately it is the right thing to do, because eventually the terrorists would learn that kidnapping attempts do not pay off. If Israeli soldiers fall captive to Hizballah, only proportional trades, in both size and mortality, should be considered.

Bulldozer Terrorist Attack Was Preventable

In an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post, Yaakov Katz writes that today's attack by a Arab resident of Jerusalem driving a bulldozer would have been "difficult to foil." Israel's Chief of Police, David Cohen, said "There's no way to control a single person if he wants to commit terrorism."

However, according to earlier reports, the terrorist -- Husam Taysir Dwayat, a 30-year-old father of two from Sur Bahir in southeast Jerusalem -- was carrying an Israeli identity card and had a criminal record due to previous criminal activities, mainly drug felonies, as well as furniture theft. Had Dwayat not been issued an Israeli residency document in the first place or had his documents been revoked upon conviction of a crime, or in this case several, he would not have been legally employable in Jerusalem and would have been unlikely to have had access to the bulldozer used in the attack.

If Arabs fortunate enough to hold Israeli residency permits commit crimes or other violations, then those permits should be suspended or revoked, because they have proven themselves to be security risks. If Israel does not now conduct a thorough background check on Arabs applying for or holding residence permits, it should start to do so immediately. Having a criminal record like today's terrorist did ought to be immediate grounds for disqualification for such permits and the employment privileges inside Israel that accompany them.

AP Misunderstands Bush Palestine Policy

AP reporter Jennifer Loven, reporting from Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, where President Bush is meeting Arab leaders after visiting Israel, said that, in a speech to the Israeli Knesset the other day marking Israel's 60th birthday, Bush barely mentioned the Palestinians' plight and foresaw a Palestinian state only in 2068. She then quotes several Arab leaders and officials sharply criticizing the speech.

In his speech, Bush said he envisioned that the Palestinians "will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved -- a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror."

With these remarks, Bush has gone further than any other Arab leader in supporting a Palestinian state. How so? Because of the conditions he's placed on it. A Palestinian state that resembles its Arab neighbors, where the people cannot freely vote for their leaders who stay in office for lifetimes and where violence reigns, like seen most recently in Lebanon, will do the Palestinians, and the rest of us, much harm and little good. Unlike Ms. Loven would have us believe, Bush understands and sympathizes with the Palestinians' plight very well and very much so because he wants to save them from the failure leadership and sad predicament that most of their Arab bretheren must endure.

Press Asking Wrong Questions on Syria

At a press conference on the White House lawn on Tuesday, the President was asked repeatedly why his Administration had waited so long to deliver a full intelligence briefing to Capitol Hill about last September's Israeli air strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear facility. According to US and Israeli intelligence, the facility was constructed with the help of North Korea and most likely would have begun shortly to process nuclear fuel, possibly weapons-grade.

The press were allowing Syria, and North Korea, off the hook by diverting the crux of the issue. The real news is not why the White House rightfully judged it in our, and Israel's, national security interest to delay a full briefing. The real story -- the story with the dire consequences -- is why Syria, despite its nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations, "concealed the very existence as well as the purpose of the installation and repeatedly denied the facts to the world and to the [International Atomic Energy Agency]," as an Israeli analyst put it. The Washington Post agreed, adding that Syria was suspiciously quick to demolish and bury the nuclear reactor's remains, actions which the Post said "require explanation."

Members of the media, then, should be pressing the Syrians, not President Bush, for answers and explanations. Trying to create tension and conflict between the White House and Congress reflects poorly on their responsibility to cover the real news.

President Carter's Meeting with Hamas Leader Mishal

I don't know for sure why former U.S. President Carter is such a nuisance when it comes to the Middle East. I can't read the man's mind. But I suspect there are two reasons: 1) he continually seeks to be relevant in retirement and 2) he views the Palestinians as the underdogs and will do anything he can to make life harder for Israel and U.S.-Israel relations. I'm not ready to condemn that man as an anti-semite, though his increasingly venomous hostility toward Israel -- most recently, calling it an Aparteid state -- suggests he just may be.

Anyways, this week, Carter plans to meet with the leader of Hamas, Khaled Mishal, in Damascus, Syria. The Syrians allow Mish'al, and many other Hamas leaders, to live there and conduct their business freely. From Damascus, they plan Hamas strategy, coordinate Hamas training in Lebanon and Iran, and from time to time, approval specific terrorist attacks.

Carter gave an interview about his planned meeting to ABC News, which is scheduled to air on the network's Sunday morning news program. Carter reportedly will say that his meeting is OK because, some day, Israel itself will have to sit down with the group to negotiate peace. That's nonsense. There's no reason to legitimize Hamas and give it a say in peace negotiations. The right policy is to isolate Hamas and pursue its destruction. If the world sticks to that policy, it will happen.

Carter also reported says that he'll "try to induce [Hamas] to stop all attacks against innocent civilians in Israel." What about the group's attacks beyond the Green Line -- in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem? Carter views them as permissible likely because he views these areas as illegally occupied. However, they are disputed areas, according to UN resolutions, subject to negotiation. Carter is prejudging their status by blessing terrorist attacks on Israelis there. And what about that Hamas bombing a few years back in a cafeteria at Hebrew University in "East" Jerusalem that claimed Americans as casualties? Carter certainly wouldn't approve of such an attack, would he? Well, he just did.

Carter says he's "been meeting with Hamas leaders for years." And what good has it done? The group isn't any more flexible in its positions, amenable to unity with Fatah, or ready to agree to a ceasefire.

Carter's meetings serve only two purposes: 1) to bolster his own sense of worth and utility, and 2) to lend political legitimacy to a terrorist group. The world should reject his interference as counterproductive.

Terrorists: Security Fence Works

The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose group has been responsible for numerous suicide-bomb attacks inside Israel, recently admitted that the so-called security fence Israel has constructed along the Green Line border with the West Bank has complicated his group's efforts to successfully launch more bombings, according to an unclassified Israeli intelligence report citing media accounts.

"There is the separation fence which is an obstacle to the resistance [i.e., the terrorist organizations], and if it were not there, the situation would be entirely different," said PIJ leader Ramadan Shallah.

Apparently, senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzuk agrees. He reportedly told Egyptian intellectuals and politicans: “[carrying out] such [suicide] attacks is made difficult by the security fence and the gates surrounding West Bank residents." Marzuk's comment suggests that not only the fence, but the IDF presence and their activities in the West Bank also help deter suicide attacks.

Vote McCain Because Arabs Fear Him

The continued existence of non-democratic Arab regimes encourages radicalism and terror and perpetuates the depravation of many of the Arab people, who derserve the political and economic freedoms enjoyed by much of the rest of the world. Now, leaders of those Arab regimes are coming out against John McCain's candidacy for President of the United States because he has expressed support for Israel, concern about Iran's nuclear program, and generally supports continued US political and military involvement in helping transform the Middle East. Because of Arab leaders' opposition, our choice for President this November is easier. Vote McCain! It's simple -- if he is the candidate Arab leaders want the least, then he is the candidate we need the most, to fight radicalism and promote Arab reform.

Egypt Should Arrest, not Entertain, Palestinian Terrorists

The New York Times reported on Friday that Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman hosted a delegation of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members for discussions on reaching a cease-fire with Israel in Gaza. Instead of welcoming the Palestinian terrorists with open arms and hot coffee, the Egyptian official -- whose country signed a "peace" treaty with Israel and is bound by United Nations resolutions to fight terrorism -- should have summoned his security men and arrested and jailed his guests for transfer to Israeli or US authorities. The US and Israel should demand that Egypt stop providing the political cover these terrorist groups need to survive. The solution to terrorism is not to strike a deal with these groups but, rather, to dismantle them and starve them of legitimacy.

Israeli Official: Expel Palestinian Arabs Who Support Terror

On Friday, Israeli Public Security Minister Avi Dichter did the right thing. He said a legal and legitimate way should be found to expel Palestinian Arabs from East Jerusalem who aid and abet terrorism. A day earlier, one such Palestinian shot dead eight young Israeli boys, and wounded as many as 10 more, at a Jewish seminary, or yeshiva, in Jerusalem. Read more here.

Palestinian Terrorists Use Civilians as Shields

A new report from the public information branch of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) describes several recent instances when Palestinian terrorists in Gaza used civilians as shields to prevent IDF retaliatory attacks. In at least one case, terrorists had a child fetch and return the weapon of a terrorist shot by the IDF. On several occasions, Hamas and Popular Resistance Committees terrorists fired rockets toward Israel from within heavity populated areas and used mosque at weapons depots and as cover during IDF raids.

This information should serve as a reminder of the nature of the enemy Israel faces and of the challenges Israel faces in fighting its enemy while sparing civilians.

Terror Groups in Damascus Have No Fear

Palestinian terrorists in Damascus used to meet in secret, so as not to embarrass their Syrian hosts. Today, they held a much-publicized "conference," attended also by Syrian officials, in which calls were made to step up violence against not only Israel but Americans.

Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mish'al reportedly said, "I call for the pursuit of popular anger against the Zionists and the Americans until the blockade is lifted." Mish'al was referring to Israel's closure of its borders with Gaza after an increase in rocket attacks against southern Israel.

The fact that Syria not only allowed the conference but also attended is a reminder of how far Damascus must come before any lasting peace with Israel is achieved, and how fruitless and premature would be any Israeli concessions, or talk of concessions. Also, the explicit threat not only to Israel but to the United States must not go unchallenged. The United States should call for the UN Security Council to rebuke Syria for allowing organizations it shelters to call for violence against Americans. If the Syrian government continues to allow such gatherings, then the United States and Israel should use their intelligence-gathering capabilities to identify, track, and capture or kill terrorists who attend such meetings.