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Nine years ago Israel’s great military leader Ariel Sharon elected to follow through with Israel’s promise in the Oslo Accords to grant land to the Palestinians living in Gaza in order to promulgate a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis there. The decision pitted Israelis against Israelis as whole Jewish communities were dismantled in Gaza and bulldozers called in to raze structures there.<\/p>\n
At the time the Jewish settlers, some of whom were born there, warned that this decision would create a power vacuum in Gaza that might allow terrorists to flourish and that future generations of Israelis would come to regret.<\/p>\n
Sharon pressed on despite these critics. Like the devout anti-communist Richard Nixon who made gestures toward peace with Red China, Sharon posited that these hard decisions must be made in the hope of a sustained peace between the Palestinian people and the State of Israel. However, it was essential, he stressed, that Gaza must be demilitarized.<\/p>\n
Just as predicted, Hamas, a terrorist organization bent on the destruction of the Jewish State in its constituted purpose of killing Jews, rose up as a duly elected representation of the Palestinian people in 2006. Since that time they have grown more and more powerful, receiving weapons from countries like Iran and funding from others like Qatar and Turkey.<\/p>\n
In response to numerous attacks, Israel erected a security fence to keep would-be suicide bombers at bay and to give a measure of peace to its innocent citizens. They did so with regret, but such attacks that had killed scores of Israelis prior to the erection of the fence, soon became relegated to the headlines of yesteryear. To prevent the flow of weapons into Gaza, Israel’s navy instituted an effective blockade. Cries of foul were levied by the Palestinians, but the importation of sophisticated computer technology that would have dramatically increased the accuracy of missile and mortar launches from Gaza was eliminated. Otherwise accurate hits have fallen short of populated areas and this factor has been given as to the main reason Israel’s defensive Iron Dome system has been so effective.<\/p>\n
Hamas was behind the capture of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was held for five years and whose release secured the freedom of over 1,000 prisoners from Israel jails. Hamas has learned that one Jew is worth a myriad Palestinians.<\/p>\n
With the previous operations in Gaza – Operation Cast Lead and Operation Brother’s Keeper – Israel has hoped that the Palestinian people could find a way to throw off the shackles of the terrorist organization and sue for a real peace in the region. Hamas, whose members hide behind human shields and who execute dozens of “collaborators” rule by fear and military might. It was their operatives who kidnapped and murdered three Israeli yeshiva students in June, which was the spark that led to this latest conflagration.<\/p>\n
Israel’s Operation Protective Edge was initially launched to prevent the launching of missiles at its people, but a more grave threat was confirmed after the ground offensive was begun. Using concrete intended for peaceful purposes, Hamas constructed a network of terror tunnels. Their purpose was simply to allow egress from Gaza into Israel for the purposes of killing and abducting Israeli citizens, while instilling fear in the face of its people. The mission of Operation Protective Edge with support from the Israel Air Force is now charged with the destruction of these tunnels so as to restore security to those whose protection it is charged with keeping.<\/p>\n
Hamas has turned down cease-fire after cease-fire and vows to fight to the death, allowing its people to be slaughtered in a public relations campaign intended on eliciting support from the international community. Hamas threatens those of its citizens who want to leave the embattled zones and executes those it feels are guilty of “collaboration.” Their rationale or reason in the wake of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) response is sheer folly.<\/p>\n
Hamas’ commitment to terror has brought about the rapid and destructive answer from the IDF. That Israel has the right to exist cannot be denied. That Israel has the right to defend its citizens put into harm’s way by terrorists cannot be understated. That Israel gave the Palestinians this land in the first place is an historical fact.<\/p>\n
Given the hard choice that Ariel Sharon made in 2005 to seek peace in the face of naysayer critics, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet have only one choice to make. While Hamas is in power, there can be no peace. While the Palestinian people live under the control of a terrorist organization, the Israeli people will be at risk.<\/p>\n
The people of Gaza have suffered at the hands of Hamas. The world has looked on in horror and accused Israel of apartheid, but the truth is that what others term as occupation has been the only viable option for Israel’s continued survival.<\/p>\n
The world players will again cry foul, calling Israel a demonic force. We expect that.<\/p>\n
Former Israeli president Shimon Peres has issued a call for diplomacy, insisting that Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, take over the Gaza Strip in the name of his government and take immediate steps to fill the vacuum that may exist in Gaza due to the frazzled state of Hamas there. It may well be true that Hamas is feeling the pressure, because they also sent out a clarion call to Hezbollah in Lebanon to join their jihad against the Jewish State. But what Peres fails to grasp is that Abbas is too weak to effect change in Gaza. Suing for peace would be seen as a weakness among his jingoistic peers and he might lose his constituted authority in the West Bank by attempting to step in too early.<\/p>\n
And, after all, the stakes for Israel are too high to pin their hopes on a Palestinian. In the name of all that is reasonable among nations and for the sake of a lasting peace in the area, Israel must retake Gaza, root out the terrorists and pray that intelligent, well-thinking Gazans will take the opportunity to shape their future with new elections and a government interested in the welfare of its citizens rather than to dig their own graves.<\/p>\n
This is the only outcome that Israel can live with and one that we at the CCJN reluctantly feel is absolutely necessary. In order for Israel to remain free, it must liberate Gaza from the hands of the terrorists and cede power only to people of peace. To do anything less means a continuation and repetition of the same patterns of the past and the eventual destruction of Israel as we know it. It is a hard choice to make and one that will mean great loss of life and limb. But to our way of thinking, it is the only<\/em> choice.<\/p>\n