Israel, Kites and the Limits of Technological Superiority - by Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen

There is no technological solution to the problem of kite/balloon terrorism. However decisive it may be, technology in and of itself does not guarantee victory.

Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen..
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 883..
05 July '18..
Link: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/technological-superiority/

Even against a simple and creative threat like kite/balloon terrorism, the Israeli defense establishment is aiming for a technological deliverance. To be sure, technological superiority on the battlefield should be exploited whenever possible (for example Israel’s Iron Dome system, which provides an effective solution to the rocket threat). But the phenomenon of war, like World Cup football games for that matter, shows that physical factors ultimately depend on the human spirit. As Yigal Allon, one of the architects of Israel’s 1948 victory, put it: “Without downplaying the value of arms, the Palmah learned to view the human spirit as the main source of strength in the war.”

The Greek victory in the Trojan War, after ten years of fighting, was achieved via the famous ruse of the Trojan horse. Modern screening technology might have exposed the ploy. Yet according to the story, the problem lay not in the absence of adequate technology but in disastrously flawed judgment. The king’s daughter, Cassandra, repeatedly warned against the danger posed by the wooden horse, but in the general euphoria attending the seeming end of the war, her warnings fell on deaf ears.

Technology has a calming effect in that it ostensibly eliminates the need for personal vigilance, resourcefulness, and responsibility. It seems to allow us to overcome the uncontrollable randomness of the human spirit, which has always been difficult to gauge in times of crisis and war. Soldiers, like athletes and artists, have always been aware of the critical dependence on inspiration and “a hidden power” that brings them to the peak of achievement in critical moments. Those who have experienced the blessing of inspiration are more aware than others of the painful deprivation that accompanies its disappearance. In the words of King David’s lamentation in the Psalms, “My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Technological support, on the other hand, is not capricious. It is stable in its operational mode and subject to control. When something goes wrong, it is nothing more than a technical failure that can be investigated and fixed. Technology thus mitigates our dependence on the vicissitudes of the human spirit. The machine has no self-doubts or panic attacks and no need for the power of faith. As a result, dependence on technological solutions has increased over the years and gained control of fundamental military and civilian operational modes. But this has come at a high cost. For the lower dependence on faith and the human spirit in times of crisis has diminished the individual and reduced him/her to a cog in a machine.

A child’s toy, turned into a weapon, a firebomb burns away a year of love - by Marcia Forest Rains

...Their juice should now be bursting in the mouths of the people they were destined to nourish, their sweetness sliding down throats of people who appreciate this produce of the land. Instead they lie, burned in ruin. The land that gave them life is now a grave instead of a mother. The farmer that loved them, raised them to be all that they could be, counted on them for the sweet life they would give him is left with bitter tears.

Marcia Forest Rains..
Elder of Ziyon..
05 July '18..

Have you ever imagined what it is like to be a farmer?

Any farmer is connected to their land in ways city-folk have a hard time understanding. You feel the rhythm of the land, when it needs to rest and when it is ready to bring forth new life.

There is something magical about communing with the land, being in partnership so that through your sweat and her nourishment you give birth to new growth that will give life to others.
The Jewish farmer in Zion has an even deeper union with the land.

It’s a 3000 year old love story consummated every time he or she goes to work, plants new seeds, waters the lands. It is biblical prophecy fulfilled when he or she walks the land, making it bloom once more.

The land (particularly that in the Gaza area) was dormant, empty. Waiting. When her lover come back she burst into bloom, producing rich fruit, vegetables, anything and everything that could be desired, in thanks, in gratitude for, once again being loved.

The Jewish farmer doesn’t have to consciously think about how the relationship with the land makes him (or her) a more complete Jew. It happens with every breath, with every effort, with the glorious harvest after a year’s labor of love.

And then, in an instant, it’s all ruined.

One kite, such an innocuous thing, a child’s toy, turned into a weapon, a firebomb burns away a year of love. You aren’t hearing about these attacks on the news. To others this is a non-story – Jews under fire, literally, day after day after day.

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Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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The continuing Gaza arson isn't a matter of operational failure. It is a moral, ethical failure. - by Uri Heitner

...This isn't a matter of operational failure. It is a moral, ethical failure. This is a government betraying its fundamental pact with its citizens – to assure their safety and security. Were the government to order the IDF to put an end to the arson campaign, and were that to fail – that would be an operational failure. An operational failure is legitimate because lessons can be learned from mistakes; you fix things and improve. The moral failure is unforgivable.

Uri Heitner..
Israel Hayom..
03 July '18..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/arson-response-is-a-moral-failure/

Our crops and fields have been burning for three months now. The western Negev is ablaze. For many long weeks, the people living there have been covered in smoke, breathing it. And the Israeli government is coming to terms with the situation, swallowing the heinous terrorist campaign.

The government has accepted the new equation on the Gaza border. It's okay to burn our fields, and if the IDF "responds" with warning shots near the terrorists – heaven forbid not at the terrorists themselves – they fire rockets at our communities at night.

To grasp the magnitude of the failure, we need to go back to the last "round" of fighting on the Gaza border, on May 29. Dozens of rockets and mortars were fired at our communities, and the IDF retaliated with airstrikes and artillery shelling. The "round" ended in a disgraceful Israeli defeat.

I'm not one of these overzealous types calling to "topple Hamas," "conquer the Gaza Strip," and "eliminate terror once and for all." These are populistic slogans. I don't believe in a "knockout punch" but in long-term deterrence. A low-intensity war doesn't provide a clear, unambiguous "victory image." Victory is measured over time. In this case, the result was immediately obvious – and dire.

The round ended in a cease-fire. In principle, a cease-fire is a positive result in that it means people stop shooting at one another. However, a cease-fire is a sham when dozens of fields and groves are being burned daily along the Gaza border.

The round concluded in a cease-fire that only addressed the rocket fire, not the incendiary kites. This means Israel is legitimizing this terrorist arson campaign so that if Israel responds to these attacks, it will have supposedly violated the cease-fire! This is an intolerable equation. A sovereign country cannot accept the burning of its fields and the scorching of an entire region, and it cannot "swallow" it. Those who launch incendiary kites deserve the same fate as those who launch rockets.

'Mowing the Grass' in Gaza (v.2018) - by Prof. Efraim Inbar

With new kite-arson fires raging daily, thousands of acres of farmland destroyed and no end in sight to Gazan attacks on the surrounding area, it may benefit all of us to take a look at some of underlying ideas that allow this to continue. Last week we reposted the 2014 version of "Mowing the Grass" by Prof. Inbar and Dr. Shamir (here) and it is certainly worthwhile to take a 2nd look at it to consider whether this concept has seen success or has run its course.

Prof. Efraim Inbar..
Israel Hayom..
24 June '18..
Link: https://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com/2018/06/revisiting-mowing-grass-in-gaza-by-prof.html

The strong desire to end the terror from Gaza, once and for all, is understandable but unrealistic. Beyond the border is a large population that hates the Jews and carried out terror attacks against Israel in the past even when Israel ruled Gaza. In addition, conquering the Strip would constitute a complex military operation that may well involve much bloodletting. Afterward, it would be Israel's responsibility to take care of Gaza's residents, which is inadvisable. Similarly, putting an end to the Hamas rulership would not end the popularity of Hamas among the Palestinians and would not serve Israeli interests. Hamas rule actually weakens the peace-rejectionist Palestinian national movement. The rift between Gaza and the West Bank proves that the Palestinian national movement is not capable of establishing a state and does not constitute a partner for peace.

The Hamas organization is aware of Israel's strategic logic and is not worried that Israel will engineer a large-scale war to end its rule over Gaza. As a result, when it runs low on cash (as happened in 2014 and recently this year), Hamas raises the bar of violence against Israel in the hopes that Israel and the international community will be convinced to send financial assistance to the Strip. Some of the money will go straight into the organization's treasury and the rest will be used to buy political silence on Gaza's streets. In order not to appear as caving into the terror organization's blackmail, the money transfer is euphemistically called "humanitarian assistance."

It is a well-known fact based on numerous studies in many countries that there is no direct connection between standard of living (poverty) and terrorist activity. For example, the Palestinian wave of terror that began in 2000 took place when the standard of living of the Palestinians in the West Bank and the Strip was higher than ever before. Similarly, Hamas chooses to use terror against Israel not because of the low standard of living of Gaza's residents but due to their extremist ideology that advocates the elimination of the Jewish state. The timing of terrorist activities is influenced also by the political and economic circumstances faced by Hamas.

Sovereignty and the need for a decisive response - by Maj. Gen. (ret.) Gershon Hacohen

Although the kites are portrayed as harmless, their scope amplifies their impact. Does a country have the right to safeguard its assets and its sovereignty only in life-threatening situations?

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Gershon Hacohen..
Israel Hayom..
19 June '18..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/needed-a-clear-military-response/

The enemy that has been setting our fields ablaze with incendiary kites has created a clear challenge for Israeli policymakers. The cumulative damage inflicted by the kites has turned the Gaza-Israel border area into barren land and has challenged the notion that the Israeli government can provide security for its citizens.

The kibbutzim in the area are right in demanding that the government put an end to this. Yes, the Israel Defense Forces' rules of engagement are decided by the chief of general staff, and should not be formulated by a public debate. That said, in pleading with the government, the kibbutzim are true to their historical pioneering role. This further underscores the fact that the struggle we are facing is a struggle over sovereignty, especially in that area. Nothing is stronger than civilians who refuse to give up and stay on their land.

In 1951, Israel forfeited an area it had sovereignty over, the El Hama area east of the Sea of Galilee. This happened after an IDF force that had been patrolling the area was ambushed, killing seven. Had there been a civilian presence there, this decision may very well have been met with widespread protest by Israelis who would have demanded a more forceful response.

Hamas has been creative and adept at waging this campaign against Israel on the border. On the one hand, it seeks to avoid a full-fledged war, as this would not serve its interests, but on the other hand, it feels compelled to keep the struggle alive. The "kite terrorism" fits perfectly with its strategic rationale.

The kites are a form of attrition that overwhelms the troops and first responders. Moreover, by sending teens to do its bidding, Hamas has forced Israel to deal with a PR challenge and a legal headache.

The question of the hour for many citizens of Israel: Why don’t we defend ourselves? - by Vic Rosenthal

The legal and diplomatic decks are stacked against us today, partly because of our own actions. We need to get over it and defend ourselves.

Vic Rosenthal..
Abu Yehuda..
18 June '18..
Link: http://abuyehuda.com/2018/06/why-dont-we-defend-ourselves/

Great swaths of land in the Negev desert near the Gaza strip, agricultural land and nature preserves formerly the habitats of numerous endangered plant and animal species, have been reduced to ash and smoke by Palestinian fire-kites and balloon-borne incendiary devices during the past few weeks. The entire area is blackened with the smoke from fires that are being set faster than Israeli firefighters can put them out.

Our powerful army dithers, ever pursuing its apparent goal of fighting wars without hurting anyone. Today I understand that a car belonging to one of the leaders of the bombing campaign was destroyed by an “airstrike,” probably a drone-launched missile. The car was parked and empty. That’ll teach him.

Israeli officials are afraid of the legal consequences of taking effective action against those who are launching the kites and balloons. They are afraid that they will be dragged into the International Criminal Court (even though Israel did not sign the treaty creating it and does not consider itself bound by its decisions), if the army kills any of the “civilians” that are burning our country. Those under the age of 18 are counted as “children,” and as you know one of the themes of anti-IDF propaganda is the false claim that we deliberately target children.

Purposely burning agricultural land is a war crime. Attacking from heavily populated civilian areas and employing child soldiers are war crimes. Hamas and PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad) don’t care, of course. Their whole strategic plan is to take advantage of the fact that Israel considers herself bound by the laws of war, the Geneva Conventions and other treaties, while they permit themselves to do anything that will kill Jews.

They don’t do it by themselves. They have help.

Israel is always required to fight an n+1 front war, with n representing the enemies that are shooting at us, Hamas, PIJ, Hezbollah, and the rest. The additional one is the international diplomatic and legal system, led by our “friends” in the European Union.

Revisiting "Mowing the Grass in Gaza" - by Prof. Efraim Inbar/Eitan Shamir

With new kite-arson fires raging daily, thousands of acres of farmland destroyed and no end in sight to Gazan attacks on the surrounding area, it may benefit all of us to revisit some of the assumptions from 4 years ago that allow this to continue.

Those who forlornly ask “when is this going to end?” and use the cliché term “cycle of violence” have psychological difficulties digesting the facts that there is no solution in sight.

Prof. Efraim Inbar/Eitan Shamir..
Opinion/JPost..
First posted 22 July '14..
Link: https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Mowing-the-grass-in-Gaza-368516

The Israeli military offensive in Gaza reflects the assumption that Israel is in a protracted intractable conflict.

It is unlikely that Israel can purge Hamas from Palestinian society, nor is a political solution likely to be achieved.

Instead, Israel is acting in accordance with a “mowing the grass” strategy. After a period of military restraint, Israel is acting to severely punish Hamas for its aggressive behavior, and degrading its military capabilities – aiming at achieving a period of quiet.

Hamas left Israel’s government no choice but to order the Israel Defense Force (IDF) to launch a land incursion.

Hamas refused to accept Israel’s government offer of “calm for calm,” rejected the Egyptian cease-fire proposal, and violated the humanitarian cease-fire initiated by the UN. It fired over 10 days more than 1,500 missiles towards towns and cities of Israel, hoping to kill as many as possible Israeli civilians. Moreover, it uses tunnels in the attempt to kill Israeli civilians and/or kidnap them.

Israel’s goal continues to be the establishment of a reality in which Israeli residents can live in safety without constant indiscriminate terror, while striking a significant blow to Hamas’ terror infrastructure.

The Israeli government wisely has defined limited political and military goals for this offensive.

Israel’s current strategy against hostile non-state actors such as Hamas reflects the assumption that Israel finds itself in a protracted intractable conflict. The use of force in such a conflict is not intended to attain impossible political goals, but rather is a long-term strategy of attrition designed primarily to debilitate the enemy capabilities. Only after showing much restraint in its military responses does Israel act forcefully to destroy the capabilities of its foes as much as possible, hoping that occasional large-scale operations also have a temporary deterrent effect in order to create periods of quiet along Israel’s borders.

As the ground phase of Operation Protective Edge progresses, Israel must be realistic about what can be achieved.

Destroying the terror tunnels along the fence around Gaza is an attainable military goal. In the process terrorists can be killed and a part of the terrorist infrastructure demolished. The Israeli ground advance might create unrest within the Hamas organization, causing some of its military leadership to move around and make mistakes that could result in better intelligence and opportunities for targeted killings from the air.

An expansion of the ground operation might exact an even higher price from Hamas. Continuous shelling of Israel by Hamas may inevitably lead to Israel’s conquest of all of Gaza. Yet, the strategic calculus should always focus on cost-effectiveness.

Despite the calls from the political Right in Israel, the demise of Hamas rule in Gaza is not an attainable military objective. Hamas is well-rooted in Palestinian society, particularly in Gaza. A recent Pew poll shows 35 percent of the Palestinians view Hamas favorably, and in Gaza the level of support is always higher. Eradicating Hamas and the subsequent political engineering of Palestinian society is not something outsiders can do. Even if Hamas rule can be terminated, the alternatives are Israeli rule, the rule of more radical groups, or chaos.

None are good options.

Palestinians Violate International Law? Let Us Count the Many Ways. - by Amb. Alan Baker

...After the UN General Assembly on June 14, 2018, voted to condemn Israel for its handling of the Gaza border fence violence, it is all the more curious to observe the deliberate disregard of the serious and flagrant international humanitarian, environmental, and ecological crimes committed by Hamas and the Palestinians. Since the Palestinian Authority is utilizing the events in Gaza to conduct its own political and legal campaign against Israel in international bodies, this renders the Palestinian leadership an accessory to Hamas in the commission of these crimes.

Amb. Alan Baker..
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs..
Vol. 18, No. 18..
17 June '18..

Introduction

The international community unleashed a new round of Israel-bashing at the UN General Assembly on June 14, 2018, on the issue of the Hamas-generated riots and demonstrations along the border fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas terror organization governing Gaza, with the willing support and cooperation of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority/PLO, has reached the conclusion that it is a worthwhile endeavor to pollute the air with burning tires, fly exploding kites towards Israel, and incite civilian residents of the Gaza Strip, especially women and children, to participate in a weekly ritual of charging toward the Israel-Gaza border fence.

While ostensibly conducting a “Grand March of Return,” Hamas’ real motive, as admitted by Hamas leaders, is to utilize the civilians as human shields for Hamas operatives to attach explosive devices to the border fence, lob explosive devices at Israeli border guards, ultimately destroy and breach the fence, penetrate into Israel, attack Israelis, and “liberate Jerusalem.”

This asymmetrical warfare goes on at the same time as the more conventional war via rockets, attack tunnels, and special forces such as naval commandos. The tunnels are just meters below the ground protests.

The two offensive operations are conducted simultaneously, and one complements the other.

Manipulation of the International Community

Evidently, as seen by the international outcry against Israel for reacting to these hostile demonstrations, images of fatalities and injured Palestinians guarantee immediate and maximal media coverage and automatic condemnation of Israel by EU Foreign Affairs Representative Federica Mogherini, European leaders, the UN Human Rights Council, the UN, and others.

In this context, the Palestinian leadership has “jumped onto the Hamas bandwagon.” It is actively engaged in its own diplomatic warfare through an aggressive public relations campaign to have Israel accused, in the international media and various UN bodies, of war crimes and violations of the Geneva conventions, and in its handling of the Gaza border fence violence.

(Continue to Full Article)

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work. 

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Will There Be A Serious Response To Fire-Kites Only After Israeli Deaths? - by Dr. Aaron Lerner

...Poorly run communities only install a traffic light after a kid gets run over and killed at the intersection. We apparently won't stop the fire-kite launchers until someone gets killed.

Dr. Aaron Lerner..
IMRA Weekly Commentary..
13 June '18..
Link: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=73293

There have been huge Israeli losses caused by the Gaza fire-kites.

Losses that go beyond lost income to farmers due to burned crops and fire damage to other property.

Trees planted by the founders of communities have been burned down and recreational areas will take many years to be restored.

But since, as of this writing, no one has been burned to death as a result of the fire-kites, the IDF declines to act to stop the fire-kite launchers.

The question shouldn’t be “how can we stop incendiary kites?” - by Vic Rosenthal

...As a result of our restraint, demands are placed on us to restrain ourselves further. And as a result of the message of “understanding” that we send to our enemies, they keep devising and trying out new ways to kill us. Why shouldn’t they? In the Middle East, being good to your enemies is perceived as weakness, which invites attack. The final answer to the kites won’t come from technology, because if we could push a button and bring them all down, Hamas would just come up with a new weapon, a new delivery system for their boundless hate.

Vic Rosenthal..
Abu Yehuda..
07 June '18..
Link: http://abuyehuda.com/2018/06/what-to-do-about-the-kites/

As you probably know, Gaza Arabs have been launching kites and helium balloons across the border with fiery payloads, and they have set huge blazes in nearby agricultural fields, nature reserves, and even the campus of Sapir College (just south of Sderot and 4.5 km from the border of the Gaza strip). Large areas have already burned, and new fires are being started all the time. Farmers have lost millions, and plant and animal life in the region will not recover for years. Nobody has died in the fires yet, but firefighters imperil themselves regularly trying to put them out.

There is a debate about how to stop these attacks. Shoot them, some say. Well, it seems that there is a legal problem. You can’t just shoot civilians for possession of a kite or a balloon. And after it is in the air, the terrorist that released it is a criminal that has to be apprehended, not summarily executed. So the only way you can shoot them is to catch them precisely at the moment that they are about to launch the incendiary device, so as to stop them from doing it. And best shoot at their legs. Good luck with this.

So the talk turns to technology. Drones to cut the kite strings and similar ideas. Some model airplane hobbyists already took down a few of them with fishhooks attached to their planes. But hundreds have still gotten through.

Recently Israel sent a shipment of Tamir interceptors, the projectiles used by the Iron Dome system, south to the Gaza envelope area. The Iron Dome not only intercepts the Hamas-produced Qassam rockets, but it can even take out a tiny mortar shell. The Tamirs are expensive (though it can be argued that the true marginal cost of a Tamir, after spreading the development costs over a large number of units, is more like $5,000 than the oft-quoted $50,000) and usually two are fired to intercept a Qassam, which costs Hamas a few hundred dollars to build. Mortar shells can be had for as little as $6 each!

All this has a familiar ring. As Bret Stephens said, “Why is nothing expected of Palestinians, and everything forgiven, while everything is expected of Israelis, and nothing forgiven?”

We have built a multi-tiered missile defense system which includes Iron Dome, but also several other components designed to intercept medium and long-range missiles. The complete system is fabulously expensive, but will provide a level of defense that no other country in the world can match. Of course we need this. Israel’s small size and concentrated population make it vulnerable to missile attacks, and our enemies know it and have invested heavily in this area.

That doesn’t mean that we can sit back and let our enemies throw everything they have at us. None of these systems promises 100% success, any defensive system that doesn’t involve science-fiction technology can be overwhelmed by a massive enough attack, and the economic imbalance inherent in using a Tamir – no matter how low we make the marginal cost – to kill a $6 mortar round becomes painful.

The Pyromaniacs of Gaza - by Judith Bergman

Knowing how PLO terror inventions of the past traveled the globe and ended up being used by other Muslim terrorists in both the US and Europe, the arson tactic may yet become a Gaza export.

Judith Bergman..
MiDA..
07 June '18..
Link: https://en.mida.org.il/2018/06/07/the-pyromaniacs-of-gaza/

The Arabs of Gaza have set over 250 fires, burning nearly seven square miles of land (4,300 acres), more than half of it in nature reserves, in what has turned out to be the latest piece of Arab terrorist innovation: Environmental terrorism perpetrated through the release of kites – decorated with swastikas – and helium balloons on fire. It has become known as “kite terror”. The fires, specifically those in nature reserves, have also wreaked havoc on local wildlife, so that not only humans pay the price for the Gazan Arabs’ unceasing rage, but also animals.

Just as the Arabs of the PLO invented modern day terrorism – airplane hijackings, airport massacres, school and school bus massacres, athlete massacres, suicide bombings, especially of buses, restaurants and nightclubs, car ramming attacks (also known as vehicular jihad) – the Arabs of Hamas in Gaza, have innovated environmental terrorism (in addition to inventing terror tunnels and perfecting the war crime of using civilians as human shields).

Knowing how the rest of the PLO inventions have traveled the globe and ended up being used by other Muslim terrorists in both the US and Europe, the tactic may yet become a Gaza export.

The damage done by the fires is estimated to be at least NIS 5 million ($1.4 million) to farmland alone. It will take years, perhaps even decades, to return the afflicted areas to their prior state.

The fires wrought by the Arabs of Gaza serve as a crucial, if extremely painful, lesson in what they would do to the rest of the land of Israel, if they were ever to receive more of it.

A society that shirks responsibility and blames others for its problems - by Dr. Reuven Berko

Those who cry out that "the road from Gaza leads to Haifa" and demand an end to the blockade and would allow the smuggling of deadly weapons to be used against us through both maritime and land border crossings would be wise to remember that the path from Haifa to Gaza remains open.

Dr. Reuven Berko..
Israel Hayom..
06 June '18..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/holding-everyone-else-responsible/

There is no blockade on the Gaza Strip. Goods that are turned into tools of destruction enter from Israel unhindered. The people responsible for sabotaging the supply routes are members of Hamas. That is how the polyethylene for greenhouses is used to build incendiary kites, and cement and electricity are used to build tunnels and missiles. Had they wanted to, the "poor, unfortunate souls" who smuggle bombs and drones into Gaza could just as easily have brought in antibiotics and medicines.

And on this side of the border, the merciful compete to offer suggestions to provide relief for Gaza's residents, as if doing so would bring any change to the violent agenda promoted by Hamas. And the much-discussed "hudna" (truce) will only serve as a catalyst to bolster the terrorist organization's standing.

In our yearning for peace and placation, we strengthen Hamas. And as we send them food and aid, they burn our wheat fields. As the saying goes, those who are kind to the cruel will ultimately be cruel to the kind.

This is a vengeful society that carries out honor killings, persecutes the LGBT community, fires guns at weddings, drives recklessly, burns tractors, fields and forests, allows bigamous marriage and establishes crime syndicates, in short, this is a society that shirks responsibility and blames others for its problems.

All this has been made possible in our "police state," in which residents of Umm al-Fahm murder police officers in Jerusalem for motives of a "national-religious" nature, and public officials like Joint Arab List Chairman Ayman Odeh and MK Hanin Zoabi spit at Arab police officers, whom they call collaborators. It is only in Israel that one can call for nationalist Palestinian isolationism while denying Jewish nationalism, and at the same time, demand the government provide police services to Arab communities.

"My brother's keeper": Standing up to agricultural terrorism - by Boaz Haetzni

...The incident at Moshav Shekef reflects what happens when there is no security, not to mention that an incursion for the purpose of theft could wind up leading to murder. On the other hand, dozens of farms that have been assigned security by the Hashomer Hachadash volunteers are already breathing more easily. Anyone who thinks that mutual aid, volunteerism and contributing to society without expecting anything in return are old-fashioned values that have vanished, is wrong. The old, good Israel is alive and kicking, right now.

Boaz Haetzni..
Israel Hayom..
25 October '17..
Link: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/stand-up-to-agricultural-terrorism/

The first time I met Yoel Zilberman was in 2008 in Mitzpe Sando in the Galilee. My wife and I had come to the farm, a little place on a hilltop, and we saw the silo that was black as coal, two days after it was deliberately set on fire, along with the hay bales and tractor. It was a sight typical of the 1930s, the lawless days that predated the founding of the state.

Zilberman, an officer in the Shayetet 13 naval commando unit, had taken unpaid leave from the army to save his father's Galilee farm, which was vulnerable to theft and destruction perpetrated by the local Arabs. Zionism's fight for its life in the Galilee and the Negev doesn't play out in murders, but rather in "minor," daily acts of economic and agricultural terrorism. Fences are destroyed, herds and crops are subject to constant theft, irrigation systems are wrecked, and protection money is demanded – a combination of crimes that ultimately serve nationalist goals of keeping Israeli farmers down, making the profession unprofitable, and in the end ousting them from the land so it can be taken over.

Zilberman's success in saving his family's farm through presence and guard duty led him to found the group Hashomer Hachadash, out of the understanding that agricultural crime is a widespread national problem rather than a localized spat between neighbors. The group attracted civilians from all sectors and of all political orientations who were ready to donate their time and spend days and nights guarding fields and herds. My wife and I volunteer for guard duty and are pleased with the thanks from the farmers and the smile of relief on their faces at the knowledge that they'll be able to get a night's sleep, for a change.

"We're finally able to sleep at night"; "the farm has finally stopped losing money"; "I was about to get rid of the herd and then Hashomer Hachadash showed up" – these are some of the reactions I heard from the farmers whose livelihood was saved by the volunteers whose shirts read, "My brother's keeper," a kind of reference to Cain, who killed his brother Abel and played innocent, asking, "Am I my brother's keeper?"