TEL AVIV, Israel – Wednesday night was supposed to bring about an end to the conflict between Israel and Gazan terrorist group Hamas. That would be wonderful, if it were true. Unfortunately it’s not so clear. In fact, most of the people living in Israel, including myself, are pretty angry about the ceasefire because it puts the lives of Israelis at risk.
After being bombarded by over 1,200 rockets from Gaza, and striking over 1,500 terror sites in Gaza as part of Operation Pillar of Defense, the government of Israel agreed to a ceasefire Wednesday. The ceasefire includes an initial 24-hour time period during which both parties agree to stop attacks. If there is no violence during this time period, Israel will then ease the ability of Palestinians and goods to get across the border crossings, easing the blockade.
The ceasefire, which was brokered by Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was set to take effect at 19:00 GMT Wednesday night (2pm EST Tuesday). However, as early as 19:01, rockets were fired at Sderot in southern Israel. Since then, 12 rockets have been fired into Israel. Hamas is denying this (because surely, the sirens and Iron Dome are just wrong). Nonetheless, Israel continues to show restraint and has not retaliated.
The ceasefire agreement is highly controversial in Israel, and initial polls showed that 70% of Israelis are against a ceasefire. This makes perfect sense considering rockets have been continuously fired at Israel for 12 years now. Hamas has broken numerous “Ceasefire” agreements and their sympathizers, at the very least, are responsible for blowing up a bus in Tel Aviv earlier on the same day that the ceasefire was signed.
The way I (and many Israelis) see this is: Israel receives more than1,200 rockets in eight days that hit cities like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, a bus is blown up in the major metropolitan city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, and Israel’s response is to agree to an easing of the blockade and a ceasefire the same day? It sounds like it’s back to the status quo – we cease, and they fire.
This was a dangerous and costly move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will likely cost his party, Likud, several seats in the upcoming January election. So naturally, the burning question is if it’s not good for Israelis, and it’s not good for Netanyahu politically, why would he do such a thing?
I don’t pretend to know everything that played into this decision. It’s possible that this was a strategic decision. Perhaps U.S. President Barack Obama, who has acknowledged that he convinced Netanyahu to accept to agreement, forced Israel’s hand by threatening to withhold aid. Or perhaps Egypt wanted to “reexamine” the peace agreement. It’s also possible that the United States agreed to back Israel should they attack Iran. It could be any number of things; we don’t really know.
What we do know, however, is that Netanyahu looks extremely weak. He looks like he has caved to international pressure, when Israel has done nothing wrong. He looks like he has turned his back on his own people who live in the south by refusing to defend their right to live in peace. He looks like he is incapable of making his own decisions without the strong-arm of the U.S. government, and while France or the UK, or whoever, might think a ceasefire is wonderful, they are not the ones who have to live here.
Let’s not forget what got us here in the first place; Israel never should have left Gaza to begin with in 2005. In response to rockets and terror attacks, Israel literally tore Israelis from their homes in Gaza in order to achieve “peace” with the Palestinians. But instead it brought us more rockets and terrorist attacks. Gaza was and is too unstable (much like all of the Palestinian territories). Perhaps Gaza (and/or the West Bank where Palestinians are now rioting…again) need occupation. I fear that the only way to truly stop the rockets and the violence may very well be the reoccupation of Gaza, something that Netanyahu clearly isn’t willing to do.
In principle, the right way to deal with Hamas and Gaza is not to appease the terrorist group by easing the blockade, but by winning. Israel has a duty and a right to protect its citizens. Agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas, who doesn’t recognize the state of Israel to begin with, is not protecting Israelis.
