Israel Matzav

Israel has lost Sderot

And, in fact, the present government in particular, but its predecessor as well, has suffered a resounding defeat here. The government has not succeeded in turning bombarded Sderot into a national defense project. That reinforces the assessment that this government is incapable of leading the nation in a major military confrontation.

It is also a defeat for the defense establishment, including the Israel Defense Forces. For years, no solution, not even a partial one, has been found to the problem of the Qassam rockets. Until the Second Lebanon War, the home front was considered secondary. It will take years until Israel gets this problem straightened out. There have been decisions, but in a government ruled by petty bureaucrats, the Finance Ministry is refusing to release even sums that have already been approved.

The enemy that defeated Sderot is a terror organization that is militarily weak, yet in spite of its weakness, it has succeeded in achieving deterrence vis-a-vis Israel, just as Hezbollah did. The government and the defense establishment try to explain away the situation with excuses such as the following: This would be a difficult battle, in which large numbers of Palestinians would be killed and Israel would suffer many losses; the IDF would be stuck in the Gaza Strip at a time when the Syrian front is likely to flare up; international public opinion would oppose a harsh Israeli response. Meanwhile, the IDF is not even returning fire at the sources of Qassam launches if the rockets are fired from populated areas.

What matters is the final result, not the explanations. And the result is that there is mutual deterrence between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israel finds itself in a military draw with Hamas. That is a serious national failure, which in my opinion is worse than the failure of the Second Lebanon War.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:59 AM