'Demilitarization' an outdated concept
Gabriel Siboni, the director of the IDF Force Structure program at the Institute for National Security Studies, writes that 'demilitarization' is an outdated concept and that a 'demilitarized' 'Palestinian state' is as great a danger to Israel as a militarized one. The threat against Israel has changed and what is required now is the crystallization of an up-to-date strategic concept according to which Israel can fix its future security mechanisms.Of course, this is why we should never agree to the establishment of a 'Palestinian state' - demilitarized or not - in Judea and Samaria. But read the whole thing.
The main threat Israel had to face in the past was the possibility that the Arab countries would occupy the country or parts of it. Since they have despaired of being able to do so, they have turned their efforts to developing rockets and missiles on a wide scale, putting most of Israel's population at risk of attack.
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It is hard to see which mechanisms could provide security for Israel's citizens if they are exposed to a danger like this. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently promised that, if necessary, her country would provide a nuclear military umbrella for its allies.
How could a nuclear umbrella, or any other defense umbrella, be effective against the threat of rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank once the Israel Defense Forces have withdrawn from there? It is not clear at all how it would be possible to enforce demilitarization on the Palestinian entity that will arise. The Gaza Strip is also a "demilitarized" zone, but weapons are smuggled in there and Hamas is building its force for a confrontation with Israel.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:03 PM
1 Comments:
As the experience of Germany between the wars demonstrates, demilitarization is impossible to enforce. Even Weimar Germany kept a secret General Staff and armaments industry going in violation of the Versailles Treaty. There is no expectation a Palestinian state will be any different - and Israel would lack the means to enforce its being unable to mount a challenge to Israel's existence in the future. All the more so such a state never comes into being in the first place.
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