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Paula R. Stern is the Founder and Documentation Manager of , a technical writing company. More of her articles can be found on her .
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By Paula R. Stern
June 25, 2006
Israel has, for the most part over the last year, appeared weak and inefficient in its dealings with the Palestinians. We have emphasized our desire for peace and our willingness to make painful concessions and the Palestinians hear only that we are willing to take pain, and willingly oblige.
We have made unilateral concessions and for the most part the Palestinians laugh at our having given up much of our bargaining position before the bargaining has even begun. Imagine, they think to themselves, how much more the Israelis will be forced to give up when we actually do sit down to negotiate.
And even more, they tease us with promises of peace?and then explain they only mean a temporary peace, perhaps 10 years, perhaps more, but only if we weaken ourselves enough that they too will be able to follow in the path of their great Mohammed. They remember that Mohammed made a peace agreement, only to break it two years later when the enemy was weakened enough that Mohammed?s victory was assured.
But all our past mistakes will be as nothing if we do not make the ground shake today, if we do not act without mercy, as they have done. This morning just after dawn, 8 Palestinians attacked an army base in Keren Shalom. As military strategy goes, it was a successful operation in which 2 of the enemy were killed, 6 others wounded, and best of all, the infiltrators were able to steal back across the border after kidnapping an Israeli soldier.
This was not a terrorist attack against innocents. We cannot bemoan the lack of decency or mercy that is so common in most terror attacks. This was a military incursion and must be answered in kind. That they will likely choose to hide their prize among Palestinian civilians is not our problem and we must show the same lack of mercy that was shown to us.
The fact that they were able to infiltrate and attack is the fault of the Defense Minister and the upper echelons of the army who have failed to allow our soldiers to adequately defend themselves, but the reasons no longer matter. If Israel does not shake the ground to get our soldier back, if the very earth does not vibrate with our anger and our determination to return the soldier and the body parts these ghoulish gunmen claim they took, we may as well surrender all that we have left.
The reason we live in Israel, the purpose for its existence is so that we Jews can live in our land, be protected by our army, and take our place among the nations of the world. If Olmert and Peretz are to be worthy of the positions they hold, they will hold back no mercy, until our boys are home.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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