Abbas's Peace

Since the "election" of Mahmoud Abbas the number of terror attacks and rocket and mortar attacks against Israel has only increased. Abbas has said that he will not disarm the terrorists, only try to talk them into laying down their weapons. (and though one of the Palestinian "security chiefs" has stated that they will disarm them, it seems hardly believable). Today, after the second suicide bombing in Gaza, and certainly pressure from the PA, the al Aksa Martyrs Brigade (or the Yasser Arafat Martyrs Brigade, as it is now known) has stated that they will not launch any attacks in Israel. This does not include the West Bank or Gaza, where they feel free to continue their attacks. Undoubtedly, there will be a chorus demanding Israel now make some sort of gesture to the terrorists. Of course, the al Aksa Martyrs Brigade has not been able to launch any attacks in Israel for quite a while because of the fence and Israel's aggressive counter-terror operations, so this "cease-fire" is completely meaningless.

At this point the indications are that Abbas's "grace period" is over and unless there is serious action against the terrorists on the part of the PA, Israel will begin major operations in Gaza. What isn't publicized is that there is a way to respond to the Kassam attacks; its called counterbattery fire. On the current battlefield, artillery is equipped with radar that tracks incoming fire and can pinpoint its origin. Fire is then directed on that location. The same can be done with the Kassams. The only issue is that they are usually fired from populated areas, meaning that Israel's fire would land in civilian neighborhoods and would cause international outrage. But as Yoel Marcus writes, it is now time for An Eye for an Eye.

There is a breaking point and a time when the government must take off its gloves and present the other side with a flat ultimatum: For every indiscriminate round of fire on a civilian target, we will retaliate in kind on the closest and most populated Palestinian city. We will give it to them good. An eye for an eye.

If Israel were as "brutal" as its attackers claim it is, these attacks - and in fact all Palestinian attacks - would have long ago been stopped.