The purpose of the exercise is not to sleep better tonight. It's to be ready for tomorrow.

...When Dr. Singer's disturbing article was published earlier this month I sincerely hoped that it would spur the considerable discussion it warrants. It didn't. Why the complacency?

Dr. Aaron Lerner..
IMRA Weekly Commentary..
18 August '16..
Link: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=71258

With their capacity to destroy capital facilities like power plants, the loss of only a few of which would severely harm Israel’s economy, they [Hezbollah's and possibly Hamas' precision-guided medium-range missiles ] introduce a new way for Israel to decisively lose a war. Israel will have to get the difficult balance between offense and defense right before the next war or it may not have a second chance.

The New Threat of Very Accurate Missiles
By Dr. Max Singer, August 9, 2016
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 356, August 9, 2016
http://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/new-threat-accurate-missiles/

When Dr. Singer's disturbing article was published earlier this month I sincerely hoped that it would spur the considerable discussion it warrants.

It didn't.

Why the complacency?

The moral dilemmas of protecting Ashkelon

Noam Bedein
Sderot Media Center
19 May '10

Recent protests by Ashkelon residents and the local PTA in demanding full rocket protection for school buildings across the city put us at the Sderot Media Center, in a moral dilemma. Should we join in their struggle?

On one hand, we fully understand and identify with Ashkelon's population of 120,000 residents who battle for school protection which could save lives from expected Gaza missile attacks. On the other hand, we cannot help but ask, should this struggle be for protection of the city or for the cessation of the threat of aerial attacks from Gaza? Only last week, a rocket exploded in south Ashkelon, bringing to 349 the number of rockets and missiles fired into Israel since the cease fire stopped Israel's three week incursion into Gaza in January 2009. Will protecting the city stop the rockets? It is clear to everyone that it will not.

Building shelters in Sderot

At the Sderot Media Center, our agency has consistently reported on the struggle to get to the Israeli government to provide appropriate shelter for Israeli communities along the Gaza border. Back in April 2007, the SMC staff, in collaboration with researchers at Sapir College, conducted an investigation into the shelter protection in Sderot and the western Negev. The investigation was accompanied by the local PTA of Sderot, who demanded that decision makers and the Israel High Court fortify the 24 schools in Sderot and the surrounding area.

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Constructive or Destructive Ambiguity? Unspoken Requirements For “Demilitarized State”

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA Weekly Commentary
24 December 09

“Real demilitarization is not a piece of paper, it’s not an agreement, and it’s not some kind of Security Council resolution, because it is our problem. It is our problem when we evacuate territory, and the territory fills immediately with Iran or their agents or weapons from Iran and also Syria…It has been demonstrated that this is the problem. That almost all the weapons aren’t manufactured inside, they are imported, at least the effective weapons, and they are becoming ever more effective, and thus a true solution to demilitarization is required.

I know what the minimum conditions are for this demilitarization, and when the time comes we will also discuss it.” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressing the Knesset 23 December 2009

“This Palestinian state will be completely demilitarized. It will be allowed to maintain lightly armed police and interior forces to ensure civil order. Israel will continue to control all entries and exits to the Palestinian state, will command its airspace, and not allow it to form alliances with Israel's enemies.”
Speech by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the Herzliya Conference, Institute of Policy and Strategy, December 4, 2002

Back in 2002 Prime Minister Sharon spelled out what he believed would be necessary in order to insure that a Palestinian state would indeed remain demilitarized.

Of course, Sharon’s last minute abandonment of the Philadelphi Corridor that separated Gaza from Egypt made a mockery of that critical condition. But Sharon’s notoriously short planning horizon isn’t the focus of this note.

If Ariel Sharon had no problem talking about the arrangements that would be required to guaranty demilitarization, why does Binyamin Netanyahu opt to leave us in the dark?

Here is a suggestion:

(Continue reading)
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