First overt Israeli military action vs. Syrian territory 2 decades

[Nashwan]

Arafat is undoubtedly supporting the terrorism. Not every individual act, but in general.

The problem is, Arafat is the only one with the status to stop the terrorism, as well.

Israel has vowed not to negotiate with Arafat, and insists on a replacement leader for the Palestinians, but Arafat has the clout to stop any replacement doing the job.

The result is stalemate, which certainly suits the current Israeli government, Hamas, and probably Arafat as well.

Arafat isn't a weak negotiating partner, he's the ONLY negotiating partner. Sharon's refusal to negotiate with him is an excuse to prevent talks.

[Eagler]

Originally posted by Nashwan
Arafat is undoubtedly supporting the terrorism. Not every individual act, but in general.

The problem is, Arafat is the only one with the status to stop the terrorism, as well..

you give the fish face "ex"-terrorist way too much credit

you actually think if he were to have Israel kiss his arse (ain't gonna happen) and to agree to whatever and he were to come out and publicly condemn the bombings, they would stop?

hamas or some other nutbag group would put a bullet through his fishface and call him a traitor to the "cause" - the extermination of the Jewish ppl...

Israel knows how to best protect themselves just as we do our own

I say once more syrian evidence is discovered, the US do the next bombing

[Nashwan]

you actually think if he were to have Israel kiss his arse (ain't gonna happen) and to agree to whatever and he were to come out and publicly condemn the bombings, they would stop?

hamas or some other nutbag group would put a bullet through his fishface and call him a traitor to the "cause" - the extermination of the Jewish ppl...

Hamas wouldn't dare to assasinate Arafat. Hamas are a minor movement compared to the mainstream PLO, with about 20 - 25% support, and that mainly from their charity work (they run community hospitals, schools etc)

Arafat has already signed one peace deal that was meant to lead to an end to the conflict, ie the Oslo accords. He enjoyed even more popularity amongst Palestinians as a result.

If Arafat concluded a peace deal with Israel, Hamas would try to scupper it with attacks on Israel. Only in a final desperate endgame would they try attacking the PLO leadership, and the vast majority of Palestinians would back the PLO. Arafat enjoys immense support amongst the Palestinians.

Getting assasinated is of course a risk to any leader in the region who tries to make peace, eg Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, both of whom were murdered by religious fanatics amongst their own population.

I think Arafat and his henchmen are more likely to defeat any assasination attempt, however. He has after all managed to survive as leader of the PLO for nearly 40 years, and I'm sure there have been more than a few attempts on his life in that time.

Israel knows how to best protect themselves just as we do our own

Israel certainly knows how to protect itself. Unfourtunately, they cannot carry out the logical measures, because it means giving up the West Bank.

The security fence was also supposed to protect Israelis, but it's emerged that the latest suicide bomber actually passed through the fence. Instead of running along the border, it runs through Arab villages, encompasses some Israeli settlements, and is so full of crossings that it's almost useless.

[takeda]

I keep seeing the settlers as the key of the situation. Bring them onto their side of the green line, build that Golly-geem wall strictly along the green line, mine it and man it with the IDF. That's properly protecting your population.

Terrorism gets more difficult, the occupation ends and with a better situation support for Hamas et al. dwindles, and the palestinians get their state,

The problem of the Israelis is that they are hijacked by nutbags who want both the security and the land, and they really should have noticed by now that they have to choose.

To agree with this you only need to look at the current plans for that separation wall:

[Nashwan]

To get back to the actual topic of the thread, the raid on Syria, I said I'd be interested in what the Israeli press had to say about the raid. I thought it was a diversion, seems some of the Israeli cabinet think so too:

Effi Eitam, one of the most right wing politicians in Israel:

"I certainly view this as a distraction for
public opinion in Israel and the world.
Everyone is all excited about an attack near
Damascus, after 30 years. Our problem is not
near Damascus, but near Jerusalem,"


Justice Minister Yofef (Tommy) Lapid:

"I was against it because we are opening a new
international front which we do not need at the
moment, because we needn't endanger ourselves
with renewal of the fighting with Hezbollah on
the northern border, and because I don't think
that this is something that will really aid in
fighting the Jihad,"

Those are both ministers in Sharon's government.

Amram Mitzna, former Labor leader, former IDF general (who disagreed with Sharon over the Lebanon war, when he was a general and Sharon defence minister:

"This government is simply irresponsible,
endangering its own citizens with - there is no
other way to describe this - adventures. What
was the point of attacking Syria? Who can even
explain the goal? Was the goal to calm down the
Israeli public? To divert the public's
attention from our day-to-day problems here and
the government's inability to deal with
terrorism?"

(that's what I think, a distraction, a need to be seen to be doing something, now the other options are exhausted)

Amir Oren, Ha'aretz defence correspondent, comparing it to a method for dealing with toothache:

 "Give a wall a nice,
hard kick, until one's leg screams with pain.
This may do nothing to cure the original pain,
but it makes one forget it for a while."

[Gunthr]

What
was the point of attacking Syria? Who can even
explain the goal? Was the goal to calm down the
Israeli public? To divert the public's
attention from our day-to-day problems here and
the government's inability to deal with
terrorism?"

I'm still scratching my head over the raid and the choice of target. But I've got a feeling that the real purpose of the raid in Syria was to float the idea of Israel striking different countries in defense of itself and gauging world reaction to it. Next target: Iran's nuclear plant.