Re “War Not Slowing Down. Gaza Rocket Attacks Accelerate”
[Editor’s Note: As Hamas terrorists continue firing rockets into Israel, sending frightened residents underground, our correspondent resumes her daily update.]
Dateline Jerusalem — Another cease-fire? It is midnight, and I do not know. I expect to find out in the middle of the night, the best time of day to break the bad news to Israelis, when they are sleeping. There won't be much of an immediate protest to the fait accompli in their slumberous state. Worse, the pause is for a month, ending on Rosh Hashana, the day Hamas originally planned to attack Israel via its terror tunnels.
Israel must forget these idiotic cease-fires and take care of business once. Get rid of the threat from Gaza. Israel must act now before it loses its opportunity. Why are we going along with this lunacy? How can we trust those who have violated every cease-fire? Why are we helping Hamas re-group, rearm? Why are we allowing Abbas to help them do so?
What do I know. I am just a person having to live with rockets exploding, booms thundering, windows rattling. My neighborhood again was spared yesterday, thank G-d. It is disconcerting to hear the blasts so close. Sometimes they are loud enough that I jump up. These are not even in my area.
History is repeating itself. We have Neville Chamberlain's appeasement to Hitler, y'mach sh'mo, as a blueprint for failure. We seem to be tracing his footsteps. An enemy whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel cannot be appeased. Nor can pressure from an anti-Semitic world influence what is in the best interests of Israel. Forget Chamberlain. Remember Teddy Roosevelt's policy, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” If Israel stands firmly, shows it cannot be bullied by other governments, it will re-earn the respect it deserves.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal admitted Hamas received aid from Iran, Hizbullah, and Qatar. “Iran's military and financial support helped us win the battle,” he said. “We have relations with Iran and Hizbullah.” Iran says it will arm Abbas and Fatah in the “West Bank.” It probably already has done so.
Light Rail a Victim
On the home front, the light rail in Jerusalem was damaged three times yesterday by Israeli Arabs throwing Molotov cocktails, firebombs and rocks as it passed through an Arab neighborhood. Mothers frantically laid their babies on the floor of the train. My solution is to go around their neighborhood. They do not deserve light rail service.
What am I missing? Obviously more is going on than I can conceive. Looked at objectively with the layman's eye, there is no alternative but to win this war now.
Just in: The second attack in less than three days of Katyusha rockets from Lebanon. Israel responded with heavy artillery fire. The rockets injured 23 people, two 5-year-old children suffered shrapnel wounds. The other day a rocket landed in Akko and yesterday in the upper Galilee. Rocket fire from everywhere, it seems.
L'hitraot. Shachar
