Comment
The
Palestinian Intifada
A high-profile
conference of political/military leaders met a year
ago to discuss the on-going Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Ehud Yaari of Channel Two TV News who opened the conference
said that today's conflict is not an "Intifada"
- a popular uprising - but a pre-meditated war; chapter
two of the Palestinian war of independence. The aim
is to create a hostile state for which the 1967 or
even 1948 borders mean nothing. Palestinians today
speak of reversing the results of 1948 and of absorbing
Jordan.
The implications
for Israel are obviously very dangerous. We finished
up with a draw in the first Intifada. This time, a
draw constitutes disaster. Israel must decisively
win this round of conflict.
Zeev
Schiff of Ha'aretz said that in order to win this
war, which is a classic war of attrition, the IDF
must shape up fast, and Israel will need to 'tighten
its lines' of defence.
Professor
Cohen noted that "the IDF was not built for a
static war of defence. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen.
Shaoul Mofaz repeatedly has said that Israel must
win this war, and that means taking the initiative".
As for
Schiff's call to 'tighten lines', a euphemism for
the dismantling of isolated settlements, it was noted
that this is a recipe for political suicide. To do
so now, is to reward Palestinian terrorism with the
biggest victory. Maj. Gen. Yaacov Amidror warned that
the IDF would never be able to effectively protect
Israeli civilians from Palestinian terrorism unless
a long-term re-conquest of Areas A was undertaken.
The packed
conference at Bar-Ilan University drew many senior
military officers, foreign diplomats and students.
It was co-sponsored by the IDF National Defence College,
the Menahem Begin Heritage Centre and the Ministry
of Education.
Naim Dangoor
writes:
One year
on, there appears to be no end to the crisis. The
reason why the conflict continues is that the two
sides are not playing the same game. The game that
the Palestinians are playing is "winner takes
all", whereas Israel's game is "winner takes
half". There can be no meaningful score unless
and until both sides play the same game. Since the
Palestinians are not inclined to change their game,
Israel must also play winner takes all.
As for
the Palestinian plan of reclaiming Trans-Jordan that
would bring us back to the situation prevailing in
1921 when Trans-Jordan was part of the Palestine Mandate
but was spitefully hived off by the Foreign Office
and given free of charge to Emir Abdullah. Thus, the
correct partitioning of Palestine was lost, and today
the right solution to the Arab-Jewish conflict still
remains valid namely that Jordan is Palestine.
After
solving the problem of Iraq, and a slightly enlarged
Jordan should become the home of the Palestinians.
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