Harel - Where are the security-related protest tents?

Israel Harel
Haaretz
25 August '11



http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/where-are-the-security-related-protest-tents-1.380548

Rockets will continue to threaten the lives of people living in southern Israel. but for that kind of pain, one doesn't set up protest tents in this country. Such tents might, heaven forbid, actually spur the government to action.

A miracle occurred in the south this week: At the height of searing August, terrorist organizations caused rain to fall - a rain of missiles. And this rain, again at their initiative, turned into a drizzle - until the next round, whose timing and scope, as has become the norm over the last 20 years, will also be determined by these organizations.

For now, the country's leaders can go back to devoting the bulk of their attention to the really important issue: finding a solution to the intolerable pain of the middle class, which has been expressed with such great authenticity by the (emptying) tents on Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard and the radical alternative panel of experts the protest leaders appointed.

Residents of the south are expected to calm down. After all, they're used to suffering constant rocket strikes. In the next round, too, our leaders will once again explain to them that terror cannot be defeated once and for all; that's been the regrain for decades now. So they must continue to keep a stiff upper lip.

And indeed, what else can they do - set up protest tents? They shouldn't even think about it. Protests are legitimate only when they focus on economic distress, whether real (that, too, exists) or imagined.

True, the rockets will continue to threaten their lives, their property, their livelihoods, their emotional well-being and their self-respect. But for that kind of pain, once doesn't set up protest tents in this country. Such tents might, heaven forbid, actually influence the government and spur it to take action. And the Talmudic dictum "if someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first" no longer has any legitimacy in Israel. Even pinpoint responses are barely legitimate.

Granted, diplomatic considerations of supreme strategic importance sometimes justify refraining from responses that would have a deterrent effect. But that is not the case when this excuse has been abused for decades. And if, under the cover of "strategic considerations" (the military junta in Egypt won't abrogate the peace treaty; it needs the treaty no less than Israel does, if only for the accompanying American aid ), physical, emotional and economic harm is caused to residents of the south, then the government, as the decision maker, must be held accountable.

Why, many Israelis wonder, after all these years of suffering, does the government not prevent the ongoing deaths, injuries, destruction and terror, which cause frustration, loss of faith in the Israel Defense Forces (which make do with advising us that "in the event of a rocket attack, you should lie down and protect your head with your hands" ), loss of faith in the country and loss of faith in our personal futures? What is the meaning of the sigh of relief that arose from the government and the defense establishment after the terrorists declared the latest "cease-fire," even as they continued firing rockets at Israel's citizens?

There were tactical failures in the army's response to last week's terror attacks near Eilat. Yet it is not these failures, but the weakness that has held the IDF in thrall ever since the first Lebanon War - and which has caused other, similar failures in recent years - that should be the focus of public criticism. The IDF, with its defensive mind-set, cannot avoid failing, even when it has superb and precise intelligence, as it did this time. Fact: The IDF is now allowing a million citizens - as it did with a similar number five years ago, during the Second Lebanon War - to be held hostage by terrorist organizations.

The IDF failed to deal with these organizations in the north (see the Winograd report for details ), just as it has failed for decades in the south, because of an immanent weakness. That is what the defense minister ought to be dealing with, instead of exaggerating the mistake made by Maj. Gen. Tal Russo in opening the road to Eilat.

Throwing the enemy off balance before he can carry out his plots - not "containment" or closing roads - is what will prevent future attacks. Restoring our deterrent capabilities would also make operations like the Second Lebanon War or Operation Cast Lead in Gaza unnecessary. And it might even prevent the diplomatic and security damage caused by mass demonstrations of the sort expected next month.

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