The Absolutely Appropriate and Historical Zionist Response To Terror

...It should be made clear that the next murder of Israeli "X" won’t lead to the resettlement of a Jewish owned building but the settlement of a new neighborhood.

Dr. Aaron Lerner..
IMRA Commentary..
23 September '13..

Historically, settlements were considered the "Zionist response to terror."

A look at the map of modern Israel finds it sprinkled with the names of settlements named in memory of the victims of various Arab attacks.

Today's terrorists are popular folk heroes in Palestinian society. The cost to the Palestinians of terror, in the form of restrictions on movement and commerce, may be painful, but the pain is temporary in nature. Large terrorist attacks may postpone what the Palestinians see as the ongoing capitulation of Israel either at the negotiating table or via unilateral withdrawals, but, again, these are temporary setbacks.

Terrorist attacks may, in fact, be viewed in the long run by the Palestinians as serving their interests by softening Israel's resolve.

Last night Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to the murder of Sgt. Gabriel Kobi in Hebron by

ordering the immediate resettlement of Beit Hamachpela, a Jewish owned building near the West Bank city’s Tomb of Patriarchs which was previously boarded up by order of the Defense Ministry.

PM Netanyahu declared that "Those who attempt to uproot us from the city of our forefathers will achieve the opposite effect. We will continue on one hand to fight terror and to harm terrorists and on the other hand to strengthen settlements."


Hopefully this marks a return of the Netanyahu Administration returns to the "Zionist response to terror."

It should be made clear that the next murder of Israeli "X" won’t lead to the resettlement of a Jewish owned building but the settlement of a new neighborhood.

Sure, the Palestinians won't be pleased to learn that the "Shchunat X" neighborhood is being built in the memory of "X". But will the murderers still be the same heroes they were before their action lead to the building of yet more Jewish homes?

The "Zionist response to terror" has another benefit. Besides deterring Arab terror, it would serve to bolster the morale of the Israeli public by offering it a positive emotional outlet through which to respond to Arab terror. By establishing living memorials, Israel would be effectively saying: "We are on the map. Terror will not vanquish."

It is said that the Arabs decided to make peace with Israel when they came to the conclusion that they could not destroy the Jewish State on the battlefield. By the same token, settlement activity today may very well convince the Palestinians that they must compromise now or face the prospects of a considerably worse deal in the future.

Link: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=61948

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