The Islamic Jihad started the fire two months ago. The clash with the organization is unavoidable – yet Israel decided to bring yet another bucket of water.
There is no other way to define the decision taken by the army Monday to extend the scope of Islamic Jihad terror suspects’ arrests in response to the series of attacks that peaked with the killing of a soldier on Gaza’s Philadelphi route and the murder of an Israeli civilian in the northern West Bank.
If Israel wants to reach the disengagement with the fires already behind it, a bucket of water is not enough. The fires started by the Islamic Jihad are better put out now, in the little time that is left before the pullout.
We should not wait until the middle of August, at which time we will have to put out the blaze using huge outbursts and airborne “fire engines.”
The conflagration will take place - we do not control it. The combustion agents, after all, are outside the area - in Damascus and Beirut.
Islamic Jihad takes advantage of vacuum
Israel is concerned, and rightfully so, that a more aggressive action against the Islamic Jihad would undermine the fragile lull. But if this lull is going to collapse regardless, at least let us determine the timing of facing the fire.
The escalation became unavoidable as a result of a simple formula that took root on the ground – the Palestinian Authority is failing to assume responsibility for the security situation, and on the other hand, Israel limits its military activity.
The army focused on arresting activists who were about to stage attacks, particularly in the northern West Bank. However, the IDF has not been dealing with the infrastructure, those who prepare the attacks and train the suicide bombers.
The Islamic Jihad took advantage of this vacuum and gained a new life. The group is not part of the “lull game.” After all, the organization is directed by outside agents, mostly in Damascus, and makes great efforts to undermine any deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The Jihad is also appending all sorts of small groups, like the one belonging to Fathi Abu Rish, responsible for the would-be female suicide bomber detained at Gaza’s Erez crossing Monday.
Worried about Hamas
In the past week, the Islamic Jihad carried out a series of “high quality” attacks prepared in advance, which it worked on for long weeks, in a bid to set the area on fire: the attack on the Philadelphi route, the attempted attack on the Gaza settlement of Kfar Darom, and the attempts to get explosive belts into Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, the group continued its “regular” attacks in the northern West Bank and the fire in and from Gaza. The attacks in Samaria are being staged around settlements slated for evacuation, as the Jihad wants Israel’s pullout from both the West Bank and Gaza to be remembered as an escape under fire in the Palestinian psyche.
A pledge from Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, in his summit meeting with Sharon Tuesday, as well as decisive action by Palestinian security forces, can stop the deterioration.
However, this is not likely to happen.
Israeli decision makers are well aware of the escalation led by the Islamic Jihad. The genuine reason they turned the restraint policy into strategy is the fear of arousing the Hamas devil from its lull.
Israel is concerned that if we start administering a through treatment to the Islamic Jihad, the Hamas – which has remained quiet for now – would also join in the terror attack orgy. Needless to say, if the Hamas is looking for excuses to violate the calm, it better happen now, not in the middle of August.
True, acting on heated passions is not a policy. Yet ignoring reality is not a policy either.
