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Jewish World Review
March 7, 2005
/ 26 Adar I, 5765
When will Israel finally say ‘enough is enough’?
By
Mortimer Zuckerman
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
How long is Israel willing to bleed for Abu Mazen? How long before Syria is stopped in its tracks for its terrorism? The Palestinian suicide attack at the Stage Club on the beach at Tel Aviv was the work of Islamic Jihad but authorized by its leaders in Damascus. This murderous attack, which killed five Israelis and wounded about 50 civilians, highlights the price Israel is paying by reducing its military operations in order to give time to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, to build up his strength. The Israeli Defense Force is so restrained that it is making only about 10 percent of the number of arrests it was making two months ago, limiting its operations to "ticking bombs" or highly wanted men, as opposed to arresting activists from all terrorist organizations — the source of the intelligence that helped Israel prevent so many past attacks.
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Vice Premier Shimon Peres |
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The Israelis knew in their bones that the terrorists might renew their attacks, as they have done after the 10 prior cease-fires. They were right. Abu Mazen has asserted that he will not disarm Islamic Jihad or Hamas nor target their people, even though he vowed to find out who "planned and financed the attack." But it's not just this attack. The Israelis have had no fewer than 50 terror warnings in the past few weeks, during which time the IDF has stopped at least 10 suicide missions. How much patience will Israelis have if there's another attack, and then another and yet another? Abu Mazen complains that Israeli control of the West Bank is hindering the investigation of the Stage Club attack, but that just won't wash. He must show that he can make good on his protestations of peace and do it not tomorrow or the day after, but now. The terrorists understand only the language of force and can be stopped only by means of force, but force is precisely the tool Abu Mazen declines to use. He has not collected a single weapon from any of the terrorist groups. He has not attacked their military and civilian infrastructure or arrested the list of wanted terrorists provided to him.
Appeasement. Abu Mazen's condemnations of the terrorist attacks appear genuine, but condemnations are not enough. In fact, what Abu Mazen has done to date is to try to appease rather than control the extreme militants. But there can be no appeasing of terrorists and no apologies for states like Syria that coddle them. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it plain as day during her recent trip to the region. "We now must see actions that send a clear message," she said, "that terror will not be tolerated."
At the London conference, the Palestinians were seeking over $1 billion in additional aid. Yet Abu Mazen refuses to rein in the Palestinian Authority's anti-Semitic, anti-Israel rhetoric that spews endlessly from TV and other public platforms. Listen to the words of hate, and you'd never guess there's a cease-fire in place. Palestinian rhetoric leaves no lines to which Israelis can withdraw from the collective Palestinian desire to annihilate the Jewish state.
At the London conference, Israel was ritually asked for unspecified actions "to live up to its obligations." But Israel has withdrawn its military forces, released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, announced the withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, and renewed the political dialogue. What more do the Palestinians want? Israelis may be willing to take their hats off for Abu Mazen, but they will not take their heads off.
It is understandable that Israelis have decided to exclude Islamic Jihad from the cease-fire and go after its leaders. But their efforts are complicated by the fact that another group, Hezbollah, is sponsoring most of the terrorist activity in the West Bank. Like Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah has headquarters in Lebanon and Damascus and is, thus, less susceptible to Israeli pressure. Supported by Iran and Syria, Hezbollah recently increased the bounty for spilling Jewish blood from $5,000 to $20,000. That's hardly what one would call progress.
Abu Mazen must be made to understand that the ceasefire will collapse if his policy is limited to depending on the goodwill of extreme militants. Israelis know the extremists will take up terrorism again unless they see that Abu Mazen is willing to enforce the cease-fire in full measure. The Israelis will watch how Abu Mazen consolidates his security services and wait to see whether he really uses them against the terrorists.
Everything good that is happening in the Middle East will be at risk if the terrorists launch more attacks, because Israelis will then have no alternative but to retaliate. If that happens, the whole peace process will unravel.
There is no way of knowing how much time Abu Mazen has to translate words into deeds. Yasser Arafat had the opportunity but not the will. If Abu Mazen has the will but not the capacity, the result will be exactly the same.
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© 2005 Mortimer Zuckerman
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