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By Bruce S. Ticker
November 24, 2005
Maybe Israel needed to have kept troops in Gaza.
Many supporters of Israel are justified in questioning the recent agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to open up access for the Palestinians. There is every reason to fear that extremist Palestinians will exploit this access to attack Israel in the future by importing arms and more terrorists.
Amidst all the heat over the Gaza withdrawal, it seems nobody bothered to consider a middle course: Pull out of the settlements, but maintain a strong military presence.
Mahmoud Abbas himself must now wish that Israeli forces remained. As president of the Palestinian Authority, he no doubt understood that only Israeli troops could have controlled the former settlement areas in any effective manner.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gambled when he withdrew the troops after dismantling the settlements. I cannot read his mind, but there are two distinct advantages here: First, he dumped the entire responsibility on the Palestinians and if they mess up -- as they are doing, big time -- he can simply dismiss them as failures in running an orderly society over real estate that is solely theirs.
Secondly, Israel will not be blamed for any casualties. Any Palestinians who are hurt or killed in clashes with security forces are being harmed by Palestinians, not Israelis. If Israelis are not there, then Israeli soldiers cannot injure or kill Palestinians, unless they are forced to return in retaliation for an attack on Israel itself.
So, Sharon is winning the public-relations war by leaving security entirely up to Abbas. Israel would risk losing the image fight if it had left the troops in Gaza.
authority and Hamas and allowed Abbas?s people to rebuild the settlement areas without
I can think of one man who would be eternally grateful, if only in private, had the soldiers remained. That would be Abbas. Israeli troops would have served as a buffer between the disruption.
Israel would have been able to capture terrorists, confiscate weapons, prevent attacks and train authority troops. They cannot do any of that now.
Now critics are flailing over the pact brokered at the last minute by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice which will allow Palestinian control over the southern crossing from Egypt into Gaza and construction of a seaport. In addition, Palestinians will be permitted to travel through Israel from Gaza to the West Bank in overland convoys.
All these measures make people wonder if the Palestinians will exploit this access to smuggle arms into Gaza and the West Bank.
Too bad nobody raised the prospect of keeping the troops in Gaza while withdrawing from the settlements. Opponents of the settlement removals beat the issue into the ground long after their cause was lost.
Maybe if they had diverted attention to the idea of maintaining the presence of soldiers, that could have been seriously considered. Too late now.
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