Don't Transform the IDF Victory into a Defeat
by Isi Leibler
by Isi Leibler
January 13, 2009
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=1189
The Gaza war is far from over and we still face great danger in the days
and weeks ahead. But we can be grateful that in this war, the IDF with new
leaders at its helm demonstrated that it had learnt from the failures and
disarray of the Lebanon war.
Aside from the tragic loss of lives in the "friendly fire" disaster, the
IDF performance has been exemplary and suggests that the recommendations
of the Winograd Committee have been implemented. The initial air force
attacks which in 4 minutes effectively destabilized the Hamas command
structure and destroyed strategic targets in over 40 locations,
demonstrated outstanding operational skill and the optimum exploitation of
intelligence. The ground offensive maximized Israel's high grade weapons
in order to minimize Israeli military and Palestinian non combatant
casualties. Mobilization, training of reserves and clear battle plans
contrasted with the chaos which prevailed during the Lebanon war. The IDF
unquestionably redeemed its image as the guardian of the nation,
confirming that today it is still one of the most effective armies in the
world.
IDF spokesmen were also far more effective than during the Lebanon war,
shying away from employing bombastic language and premature victory
pronouncements. Despite the bizarre High Court ruling insisting that the
media be enabled to enter the war zone, journalists were denied entry. As
a consequence the chaos which prevailed during the Lebanon war was avoided
and we were spared the humiliation of journalists disclosing troop
movements and families learning of casualties of their loved ones through
the media.
Instead of apologizing, Israeli spokesmen stressed the unprecedented
lengths undertaken to minimize non combatant casualties. They pointed to
the precision targeting which was far superior to the U.S.and allied
bombing in Iraq, Afghanistan and Serbia and drew attention to their
efforts to warn civilians by telephoning tens of thousands of them and
dropping leaflets in advance of operations. They exposed the Hamas
exploitation of human shields in mosques, schools, hospitals or private
residences and emphasized again and again that Israel did all possible to
limit the number of civilian casualties. Needless to say, this neither
deterred most of the global media from again applying double standards
against us nor inhibited the renewed explosion of anti Semitism.
During the Lebanon war, Israelis were enraged with ministers and IDF
leaders making statements promoting their personal agendas and often
contradicting the vacillating official policy of their own government.
This time, although a marked improvement from then, there is no doubt that
the posturing, sniping and rivalry between the Prime Minister, Defense
Minister and the Foreign Minister does divert from the national interest.
Ehud Barak, who had castigated the former government for accepting the
disastrous UN cease fire during the Lebanon, felt impelled at the outset
of the war to inform his dovish constituency that he favored an immediate
cease fire. Tzipi Livni who had passionately defended the catastrophic UN
ceasefire Resolution 1701 tried to impress her constituents by making
hawkish statements and zigzagging in her attitude towards a cease fire.
Her absence at the UN Security Council meeting which passed the one sided
cease fire reso lution was inexcusable. Ironically, Ehud Olmert, who
should never have remained Prime Minister and having no vested interest in
the elections, has so far performed in an exemplary manner.
Now with the diplomatic endgame looming ahead, we are at a crossroads. An
urgent resolution is required as to whether the IDF should move further
into the Gaza heartland risking major casualties or call a halt and accept
a conditional cease-fire. The indecision by the politicians is already
palpable and frighteningly reminiscent of the Lebanon war.
Understandably, subject to a caveat that genuine long term arrangements
are in place to ensure that the regime of launching missiles against
Israel has ended, the government would wish to call a halt now to avoid
more casualties. But unless adequate controls are made to prevent the
Philadelphi Corridor from continuing to act as a conduit for Hamas to
replenish their armaments, a future conflict with a substantially more
powerful and dangerous Hamas is inevitable. To avoid such a scenario, we
cannot afford to repeat previous mistakes of delegating control to Egypt,
the PA. or another impotent United Nations Interim Force. Alas, with the
Bush administration abstaining from the recent one sided UN Security
Council Resolution, which also employed moral equivalence towards Israel
and Hamas, the situation is very worrying. We cannot expect President
Obama to be more forthcoming than his predecessor.
We have additional cause for concern because our government has always
displayed a propensity for agreeing to quick fixes without adequately
taking account of the long term implications of its actions. Their record
is appalling. They orchestrated and implemented the unilateral Gaza
withdrawal which paved the way for the current crisis which led to over
6500 missiles being launched into Israel. They bungled the Lebanon war.
This is the government which sat with folded arms for years as Hamas
launched missiles at Israel and enabled them to amass the potent weapons
that they now employ against us. They entered into a bogus "truce" with
Hamas, which amounted to "quiet" in return for Hamas upgrading its
missiles. They are responsible for the erosion of our deterrent and
uttering empty threats which made us a laughing stock of the Arab world.
Can we trust this government not to make the same mistakes? We must pray
that they learnt some lessons from their former failures, especially the
phony peace to which they acquiesced in Lebanon. Otherwise the brilliant
performance of the IDF and the agony and sacrifices of the past weeks will
largely have been in vain.
At the same time, whilst we are a nation at war we must remain united and
support whatever decision is made - as long as it incorporates a framework
by which Hamas is deterred from rearming.
If we agree to a ceasefire, we must proclaim that should even a single
missile be deliberately launched against our civilians we will respond
instantaneously. We must leave no doubt that we will remorselessly extract
retribution so that it becomes painfully clear to our enemies that the
days of targeting Israeli civilians without having to pay a bitter price
are over.
Nor can the plight of Gilad Shalit be set aside "for future negotiations".
We must demand his release now and if that does not eventuate, all Hamas
detainees should remain incarcerated and be denied contact with their
families or the Red Cross.
The terrorists will continue proclaiming victory. But if we have
downgraded their military infrastructure and their leaders are no longer
calling for more martyrs because most of them are cowering underground in
fear of Israeli retribution, their "victory" will not be taken seriously.
Nor will the Gaza population be applauding Hamas for the devastation they
inflicted upon them.
We will be the victors of this war if we can demonstrate that from this
point onward, we are able to implement a policy of realistic deterrence
which will make it counter productive for Hamas to continue launching
missiles or indulging in terrorist actions against us.
ileibler@netvision.net.il
This column was originally published as a blog entry in the Jerusalem Post
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