By Dr. Aaron Lerner
March 10, 2006
The IDF responded with full force when the first Qassam rocket landed in Israel after the retreat from the Gaza Strip, leveling buildings used by the various Palestinian militias and killing scores of armed militiamen targeted from the sky. Elite ground forces also took part in surprise raids to drive home the message that no place in the Gaza Strip was beyond the reach of the IDF.
The Palestinian assumption that Israel would honor "human shields" was proven to be deadly wrong when a Qassam launching team was taken out as they were setting up a rocket in a school yard. "The blood of the children of Sderot is no less red," Israeli officials explained.
No. This isn't what happened when the first Qassam fell.
And it isn't what happened when the 300th fell.
And it isn't what happened when rockets repeatedly landed by "strategic Israeli targets".
It didn't even happen after now Kadima politician Avi Dichter confidently proclaimed recently that Israel would show its stuff if the Palestinians dared to launch another Qassam. They launched a score since then and the "stuff" has yet to be seen.
Of course there are all kinds of explanations for the yawning gap between post retreat reality and the pre-retreat tough talk but the gap is there for all to see.
It's a gap that Israelis who live near the Gaza Strip are reminded of several times a day as the IDF shells and bombs empty fields in response to an ever increasing number of Palestinian rocket attacks.
It's a gap that Mr. Olmert and the rest of the retreat supporters continue to ignore, "Olmert said that once a border is determined, Israel would "not lose any option for security action in line with our needs in the fight against terrorism, which is to a large degree the case today in Gaza." [The Jerusalem Post , March 9]
How did the philosopher get out of the pit? He postulated a ladder and climbed out.
Ehud Olmert is trying to do the same thing.
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