Netanyahu hesitates. He appears afraid to act

Israel's news this morning wasn't good. It was dangerous. 

The reports we saw this morning were about a supposed 'ceasefire' between Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. This 'ceasefire' was the result of ongoing attacks against Israel's south from Gazan terror groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. These attacks have been harming Israel since March 30, 2018, when Hamas organized a 'March of Return' that has turned into a 110+ day series of violent anti-Israel rioting at the Gaza-Israel border. Concurrent with those riots, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have sent into Israel close to 2,000 (or more) fire kites, rockets and mortars, threatening and seriously disrupting the lives of thousands of Israelis--and, so far, burning thousands of acres of farmland, killing animals and destroying precious, carefully nursed desert forests. 

These attacks represent a major assault against Israel. They are, in fact, war crimes. If you want to get technical about this, here is the relevant statement from Article 8(2)(b)(IV) of the 1998 ICC (International Criminal Code): 

 “[i]ntentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause … widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to the concrete and direct overall military advantage anticipated” constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts (here)

In the last 10 days alone, there's been no let-up. There have been more than 20 new fires started by kites, and more than 200 rockets/mortars shot at Israel. 

Israel has a legal right to respond to these attacks. It has a legal Responsibility to Protect its population. But its response to these attacks have been tepid, at best. For many Israelis, that response has been far too gentle: dozens of IDF air attacks against primarily empty Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza.

This type of response will never deter the likes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Such a response only makes these terrorists feel increasingly invulnerable, not increasingly in danger.

Make no mistake. Hamas and Islamic Jihad aren't playing 'musical chairs' here. Their attacks leave thousands of Israelis scrambling for their lives. Israeli children are traumatized by the sirens and explosions they hear. Business and the routines of daily life are more than disrupted. They're being broken by the continuous pressure and fear caused by these attacks.

The fire kites haven't ended. Mortar shells and rockets haven't ended. Will Israel not stop this terror?

To make matters worse for Israelis, Israel's IDF is not allowed to kill terrorists who are getting set to launch a fire kite. The IDF is allowed only to shoot towards those terrorist, not at them.

(Note: this may have just changed today. We'll see).

 So far as many Israelis are concerned, terrorists terrorize us--and we must treat them with kid gloves lest any of them gets hurt. That doesn't protect us. It protects the terrorists.

This morning's news about a ceasefire didn't calm anyone. Instead, it seemed patently laughable. Take a look at just the first 11 hours in today's early news cycle. These 11 hours will tell you everything you need to know about Israel's impotence here:


-10:43 pm last night (July 14, 2018): Islamic Jihad announces a ceasefire with the IDF

-11:50 pm last night, rockets fall in southern Israel

-12:01 am this morning, Hamas declares it has signed a ceasefire with Israel

12:26 am this morning, Sirens in southern Israel

-12:48 am today, the IDF confirms two mortars have been fired into Israel from Gaza

-5:03 am this morning, Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts a Gaza rocket

-05:31 am, Israeli MK (and head of the Jewish Home Party) Naftali Bennet was angry. He said the kind of restraint Israel's leadership shows here (by going for a ceasefire instead of going after the terrorists) will not end anything. But it will give Hamas and Islamic Jihad a chance to rearm--and then escalate their attacks.

-08:15 am today, Islamic Jihad made a statement about the fire kites it has been launching into Israel, which have caused so much damage and provoked such Israeli fear. Islamic Jihad announced that the ceasefire it has just signed with Israel does not include fire kites.

Great. Israeli leaders sign a ceasefire, Islamic Jihad says this ceasefire will not include fire kites, and everyone in Israel expects more rockets and more fires. Netanyahu himself said as much. At 9:20 or so this morning, Netanyahu said, Israel will continue to hit back at Gaza if Hamas 'doesn't get the message' (here). 

There is no ceasefire. There is no change. The attacks will continue. 

To make this point--and to press upon Israel who is 'driving this bus'--Hamas made a declaration later in the day. Hamas declared that If Israel didn't ease up its 'blockade' of Gaza, Hamas will intensify the border riots Israel must deal with. 

With this declaration, the ceasefire died before the ink had dried.

But something is different. Two things have changed in the war between Israel and Gaza.

 First, Hamas understands that, at this  point, it controls what happens between Gaza and Israel. This is good for Hamas--and bad for Israel. Then, second, Israelis sense that Hamas has such control.

That doesn't sit well with Israelis. They've become increasingly unhappy to see Hamas and Islamic Jihad attack us at will while our Netanyahu appears frozen. 

Israelis want Hamas terrorists stopped. They want Israel to stop them. They want Netanyahu to act. They want Netanyahu to make Gaza pay such a painful price for this aggression, both Hamas and Islamic Jihad will beg Nertanyahu to stop.  

Everyone here knows what this means: begin the process of flattening Gaza. 

But if this is exactly what a growing number of Israelis want, it is exactly what Israel's leadership won't even talk about. 

Netanyahu doesn't act. We don't know why. But his prevarication is dangerous. it could turn him into a modern Hamlet: he knows what must be done. But he hesitates. 

From the original Hamlet, we know what happens when a major player in a serious drama is indecisive. As with Hamlet, the longer one hesitates, the worse the end will be. 

This is not to say Netanyahu is a bad leader. He isn't. But he does at this moment seem afraid to act. 

That's a problem because fear doesn't win on the battlefield. Fear never wins. Hamas knows this--and its confidence seems to surge.

This is why this morning's news wasn't good.