Taking Aim on Ceasefire

We've gotten to the point where one has to engage in metaphysics to consider that the situation between Palestinians and Israelis can be considered a ceasefire.

The so-called ceasefire has been anything but. Palestinians have repeatedly broken the ceasefire, firing rockets on a near daily basis since the ceasefire was supposedly instituted.

Of course, now that two Israelis were injured by that Palestinian rocket fire, it is the Israelis who will be breaking the ceasefire by going after the terrorists who keep firing the rockets into Israel. This is Israeli double standard time after all.

Only in bizarroworld can the Israelis (or the media covering Israel) claim that Israel is going to hold to a partial ceasefire.

That's like saying you're a little pregnant.

Either you are, or you aren't.

There is no middle ground no matter how much Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would love to create one. Palestinian terrorists continue to rain rockets down on Israelis hoping to kill and maim as many Israelis as possible and Olmert calls for restraint? Palestinians interpret restraint for weakness and only feeds their insatiable lust to kill and eliminate Israel from the map.

This isn't a matter for diplomacy or bargaining with terrorists over prisoner releases. This is a matter of eliminating terrorist groups that pose existential threats to Israel.

Meanwhile, the rockets keep raining down on Israeli cities and the Israeli government doesn't appear to take the threat seriously enough to go after the terrorist threat once and for all. The Israeli government doesn't appear to put the security of its citizens as a top priority and thinks that diplomatic action will somehow save the day in dealing with terrorists. Hamas has no interests in diplomacy - that should be clear to anyone with a functioning neuron. Fatah has shown itself to be incapable of holding to any agreement with Israel, except as it relates to Israeli obligations. In such cases, Israel must be held to the agreement while Fatah gets excused from missing its obligations.

Indeed, the farce is laid bare by stories claiming that Israel would be the one in violation of the ceasefire if they respond to the Palestinian rocket fire against Israel.

As an aside, if one wants to conduct back channel negotiations, it is best not to mention them in the media. Abbas needs a lifeline and diplomatic maneuverings is his only option since he's unlikely to win an election against Hamas. Yet there should be no way shape or form that Israel goes to the bargaining table with Abbas since Abbas has absolutely nothing to provide Israel in return. Abbas can't control Hamas. Abbas can't stop the rocket fire. Abbas can't even control his own thugs. That's why there's no reason to rely on diplomatic actions to resolve the situation at this point. There's no one Israel can negotiate with. Indeed, Israel would be negotiating against itself if it goes into any negotiations with the Palestinians.

UPDATE:
It Shines For All has a great posting on what Israel's obligations are under the Roadmap for Peace. The short answer is not a damned thing. Israel doesn't have a single obligation until the Palestinians cease all terrorist actions against Israel. Only then would Israel be required to adhere to the Roadmap. Others noting the way that AP and the NYT are trying their damndest to blame Israel for the current mess, when it remains that the Palestinians have never abandoned their quest to destroy Israel by all means at their disposal.

Charles at LGF conveniently provides a copy of the Road Map for the NYT and AP to reread in its entirety.

Meryl Yourish also notes that the ceasefire helped the Palestinian terrorists avoid being destroyed by Israel. Sadly enough, the UN wants to repeat that disaster in Somalia; the UN is hoping to stop the Ethiopians before they can eliminate the Islamist threat in Mogadishu.

Carl in Jerusalem is completely fed up with Olmert and the Israeli government's refusal to take Israeli national security seriously.

Technorati: terrorism, nasrallah, fatah, haniyeh, Olmert, carter, Abbas, abdullah, jordan, PRC, Hamas, Gaza, palestinian, Israel, hizbullah, hezbullah, hezbollah, lebanon, syria.