Time to break the mold

[Violet_Crumble]

By Gideon Levy

One thing has been proved: The omnipotent IDF and Shin Bet security service cannot do the job; only the Palestinians can do it. Countless punitive and retaliatory operations, liquidation and preemption, demolition and consciousness-burning did not stop Palestinian terrorism. The only thing that did was a clear and sharp decision by their leadership to hold fire. This signals the collapse of the oldest and most rooted conception that has accompanied the war on terror from its inception. The basic assumptions that "force alone" works and that "the terrorist infrastructures have to be destroyed" are revealed to be hollow cliches as it turns out that only political means are effective in the war on terror.

It's not hard to imagine what would have happened had Israel followed its usual custom and invaded the Gaza Strip following the firing of Qassam rockets at Sderot: more killing and destruction. One thing certainly would not have been achieved: a stop to the Qassam rockets. Now, after Israel behaved unusually and responded with relative restraint, quiet has come about, even if it is extremely fragile.

But will we now, even so unconscionably late, draw the right conclusions from these sensational revelations? The concern is that despite everything, Israel will not allow itself to be confused by the facts but will carry on as usual, and the days of grace and quiet will pass as though they had never occurred. The liquidation in Qalqilyah, the killing of a girl in Dir al-Balah and of a mentally ill man at Netzarim Junction - events that took place last week, after the start of the cease-fire - intensify this concern.

For now, the quiet is emanating mainly from the Palestinian side, as Israel Radio reported last week: "There were a few shooting incidents this morning in Gaza. No one was hurt. One terrorist was killed." Now Israel has to ask itself urgently what will motivate the Palestinians to persist in their new policy. Will the change they have made be backed by an equally far-reaching change by us? If we are tempted into thinking, as in the past, that a series of ridiculous goodwill gestures is enough to induce them to hold their fire, the present quiet will very soon become a thing of the past. If we continue to think that only we have the right to go on shooting and killing, as we are continuing to do even now, the response will not be long in coming.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/533502.html