Time to Pursue a Decisive and Unmistakable Outcome

...Each battle entails its own set of circumstances and emotional toll, but the result of the military campaign as a whole will be the one to determine the future of Israel. We cannot afford another round of violence and we have the moral right to do whatever it takes not to be held hostage by radical fanatics. We must use this opportunity to indicate to others that when it comes to the threat of terror, our patience has worn out.

Tzvika Fogel..
Israel Hayom..
21 July '14..

Today, one can only hope, the war outlined by Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa and their Islamic Jihad counterparts, is clear to all. Ten thousand rockets, thousands of mortal shells, dozens of terror tunnels, hundreds of tons of explosives, drones, amphibian terror cells, and thousand of murderous terrorists, all aimed against the Israel Defense Forces and Israel as a whole.

The terrorists meant to overrun communities near the border, commit mass murder, carry out abductions and wreak havoc in their wake. Hamas has been training for such attacks since it seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Hamas has never recognized our right to live here and has gone to great lengths to exhaust its nefarious intents.

This horrific scenario was outlined by hate-filled minds immediately after 2008's Operation Cast Lead was concluded, when Israel's aerial superiority became clear. Hamas' plans was upset slightly by 2012's Operation Pillar of Defense and Abdel Fattah el-Sissi rise to power in Egypt, but the original outline was always clear in Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal's and Ismail Haniyeh's minds.

The Islamic bloodlust coursing through their veins was realized mostly due to our inability to put the pieces of the intelligence puzzle completely together. The funds, donations, and raw materials funneled to Gaza by Israel and many other nations to facilitate the Gazans' hope for a better future were seized and used by Hamas leaders to create the military and human infrastructure of their terrorist venture.


We had preferred to believe that the Palestinian population in Gaza Strip would not allow Hamas to drag it into yet another bloody campaign. "Hamas has no interest in an escalation at this time," various Israeli experts claimed, presuming to know what Hamas has planned for our future.

We were wrong, and only the ability to admit that will enable us to understand the need to seize the opportunity at hand, make the right decision and segue from an operation into all out war; one meant to target Hamas' very centers of gravity, and defeat it in a way that would leave it unable to realize its plans in the foreseeable future.

War is a compilation of dangerous battles and complex missions, and it is full of ups and downs, successes and casualties. Each battle entails its own set of circumstances and emotional toll, but the result of the military campaign as a whole will be the one to determine the future of Israel.

We cannot afford another round of violence and we have the moral right to do whatever it takes not to be held hostage by radical fanatics. We must use this opportunity to indicate to others that when it comes to the threat of terror, our patience has worn out.

Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=9229

Brig. Gen. (ret.) Zvika Fogel is a former chief of staff of the IDF Southern Command.

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