OPERATION DEFENSIVE SHIELD
March was the most difficult period since the outbreak of the Palestinian wave of violence, culminating in the Netanya “Pessach Massacre,” in which 28 people were killed during the Seder. Over 125 Israelis were killed and almost 700 injured in March.
The day after the Netanya attack, the cabinet decided to launch “Operation Defensive Shield.” The operation began on March 29 and was aimed to break down the terrorist infrastructure, capture terrorist leaders, and destroy bomb-making facilities in the Palestinian Authority controlled cities (Area A) on the West Bank. Thousands of Israel Defence Forces reserve soldiers were called up for this special operation.
The rationale of the Operation was quite straight forward. The Israeli government believes that Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are either unable or cannot (or both) prevent terror attacks against Israelis. So, the IDF went in to do what the Palestinians did not do.
Most of the Israelis who were called up for the operation showed up at base. At the height of the operation, a poll commissioned by the Israeli daily Ma’ariv showed that three-quarters of Israelis supported the operation. In spite of this broad support, only 41% said that they believed it would lead to a decline in terrorism. How can we explain this? It seems that Israelis have become so fed up that after the Netanya Pessach Massacre, they knew that something had to be done. There is wide support for the government’s need to protect Israelis, but there is debate within Israel as to the best tactics and as to whether the Operation will have long-term as well as short-term success.
The day after the Operation began, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1402 “expressing its grave concern at the further deterioration of the situation.” It further called for an immediate cease fire, withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities, implementation of the Tenet security work plan as a basis of implementing the Mitchell Committee recommendations, and for an immediate cessation of all acts of violence. It also affirmed Security Council Resolution 1397 of March 12 “Affirming a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders.”
As I write this (April 26), the IDF has withdrawn from most of the Palestinian cities. Israeli soldiers still surround Yasser Arafat’s compound in Ramallah, waiting for him to turn over to Israel the terrorists accused of murdering the Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi on October 17. On April 25, a makeshift Palestinian Authority court (judges and lawyers were military officers) tried 4 people for Ze’evi’s murder. They were given sentences ranging from 1-18 years. The Israeli government is not satisfied, since it has demanded that the accused over for trial in Israel, where the crime was perpetrated. The IDF still surrounds the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem waiting for the few dozen terrorists inside to surrender.
On April 28, the Israeli cabinet had a long, drawn-out meeting in which Sharon said that President Bush offered American support for Israel on the matter of the UN fact-finding mission and invited Sharon to Washington next week. Israel agreed to lift the siege and travel ban on Arafat. As I write these words, a compromise has been reached, by which the 4 convicted murderers of Ze’evi, Fuad Shubeiki, the PA official responsible for the Karine A arms boat, and the leader of the PFLP, all 6 of whom have been with Arafat in his compound, will be put in a PA prison in Jericho, to be watched by American and British soldiers.
As Israel has always said, it is committed to a negotiated settlement. Prime Minister Sharon gave up his demand of seven days of quiet before negotiating with the Palestinians. The diplomatic initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah is essentially the same offer as Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol made after the 1967 Six Day War, of normalisation of relations with the Arab world in return for territory captured. That same Ma’ariv poll registered 52% of Israelis backing the initiative, and 42% opposed to it.
We have heard about a “massacre” in the Jenin Refugee Camp perpetrated by the IDF. The UN Secretary Kofi Anan has asked to send a fact-finding mission to Jenin. Israel has expressed its reservations, and according to Daniel Bethlehem, a Cambridge University expert on international law and external advisor to the Israeli government on the UN commission,
“Israel has already lost the public relations battle. Whether or not there was a massacre in Jenin as the Palestinians contend, there is a widely-held perception in the international community that Israel's use of force in Jenin was excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate and that this was compounded by a failure to provide, or allow the provision of, humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of the conflict. Even assuming that all the facts are in Israel's favor, it will be difficult to redress this balance."
We may never know the entire story of what happened in the Jenin Refugee Camp. The IDF believes that more than 25% of all suicide bombers originated there, and was determined to root out future bombers. Rather than engaging in the American and British tactics used in Afghanistan (ie. Carpet-bombing), the IDF decided to go house-to-house to find the terrorists. This proved to be very costly.
During the operation, 13 Israeli soldiers died when a booby-trapped house fell on them. Twenty-nine Israeli soldiers and dozens of Palestinians were killed. As Shimon Peres said, “This was one of the most difficult battles the IDF has known. Terrorist faked surrender while armed with explosive belts, and the streets were lined with car bombs in order to impede any Israeli advance.” An Israeli doctor from the Hadassah hospital told how the IDF medical personnel treated Palestinian wounded as well as Israelis. As David Horovitz, the editor of the Jerusalem Report, said in the May 6 issue, “…we are a nation that is immeasurably more sinned against than sinning.”
New revelations are constantly coming to light. In the April 28 Sunday Telegraph, Paul Collinson, former British army bomb disposal officer, said that he had found more than 200 explosive devices in the Jenin refugee camp identical to those used by the IRA.
Unfortunately, the parameters of the current violence are not limited to Israel. Jewish communities around the world have faced a growing wave of anti-Semitism. Many would have us erroneously believe that these anti-Zionist actions are not against the Jewish religion or people, but against the Jewish state. We know that one cannot separate anti-Zionism from anti-Semitism.
As difficult as the situation is, eventually the Israeli government (current or future) will sit down with the Palestinians and resolve the issues around the negotiating table. Let us hope that the Palestinian people and leadership will soon realise that it is in their best interest and that they will achieve more through negotiations than through violence. Let us all just hope and pray that the tragic loss of human life will end soon and our leaders can get back to negotiating. The Jewish people all over the world must show their support for the people and State of Israel during this trying period. We have the opportunity to show our support at Trafalgar Square on May 6 at 2:00 PM. Let’s make sure that each of us brings at least our own minyan and we get even more than the 40,000 expected participants!
I have tried to give you more background than up-to-the-minute information, since events are constantly unfolding. For those of you who want to follow the on-going events, check out some of these web sites that I hope you find useful:
www.haaretzdaily.com
www.jpost.co.il
www.jreport.co.il
www.jta.org (the Jewish Telegraph Agency, a great site)
www.tau.ac.il/peace (The Tami Steinmetz Centre for Peace, Tel-Aviv University – they do monthly “Peace Updates” with surveys about Israeli public opinion)
www.jajz-ed.org.il (Jewish Agency Education Dep’t web site)