Special Report 134pdf
Special Report 134pdf
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  1. Special Report 134, Israel Under Attack(Released Israeli abductees and their families)An Overview of the Conflict with Hamas and Some AssessmentsPart TwoReaders must take into account that I am an Israeli and therefore may be legitimately suspected to be biased. However, I fear God and therefore seek truth; not my truth but the truth of the facts. I therefore endeavor to present the facts fairly and in a balanced manner. Each of the facts I present can be easily documented. It is up to each reader to decide for his or herself the validity of the following.In the first installment we described developments leading up to the formation of the State of Israel in 1948,the creation of the Arab Palestinian problemand the military governance of the Israeli Arab population until December 1966.You might be wondering why I speak of ArabPalestinians and not simply of Palestinians. The reason is quite simple. Until the creation of the State of Israel, there was not such thing as an Israeli. Jews living in the land were designated and carried identity papers which define them as Jewish Palestinians. In other words, the British mandatory authorities affirmed both Jews and Arabs as having a claim on the land.Before the disbandment of the military governance of most Arabs living in Israel (and excluding Arabs living in Joppa, Nazareth and Haifa), Israeli Arabs were free to elect their own mayors and village heads and to pursue their economic goals. Some were employed in Israeli industries and arms. Consequently,Israeli Arabs have increasingly become part of Israeli society, studying and teaching in the universities, working as doctors and nurses in hospitals –in some cases serving as the heads of hospitals –and otherwise engaging in everyday life as Israeli citizens. Over time, mutual suspicions were allayed,and the two communities lived quite well together. So much so that, in 1967, when Syria, Jordan and Egypt prepared to attack Israeland Egypt closed laid siegeto Israel’s southern port of Eilat (in what is known as the Six Day War), Israeli Arab civilians enlisted to assist the defensive war effort. Today, there are senior and junior Arab officers and combatants voluntarily serving in the Israel Defense Forces (unlike the Jewish population, Arab citizens are exempt from the draft). Nevertheless, an underlying tension continued to exist and there were instances of discriminationwhich Israeli authorities did not appropriately address.Israeli Arab cities and villages were not proportionately budgeted and crime in the Arab sector tended to be ignored.
  2. Meanwhile, in the pressure cooker of the refugee camps in the West Bank,Gaza, LebanonandSyria, a nation was born. The Arab Palestinian refugees developed a history (however short), national aspirations (however unrealistic), a national myth that purported to explain their national existence and the circumstances of their lives, and a culture. The Muslim majority began to look askance at the sizeable Christian minority. Admittedly, there was no such thing as an Arab Palestinian nation before that. But neither was there an American nation, or a French, a Belgian or a British until forged on the anvil of historical reality.Various groups emerged, protesting the existence of a Jewish State, calling forits displacement by an Arab Palestinian State and seeking to promote that goal by what were originally low level terror attacks on Israel. In 1964, at an Arab summit meeting in whichEgypt led, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed and Yasser Arafat was put at its head in 1969. As result of his organizational abilities, attacks on Israel became more concerted, more severe and more frequent.In the aftermath of the Six Day War Israel found itself in control of the whole of the landwest of the Jordan river, including Gaza and the West Bank, as well as the Golan and the Sinai Peninsula. It immediately set about to encourage the Arab Palestinian refugees to leave the camps, create aneconomy and apolitical and educational infrastructure. Hospitals were opened, universities founded, governing powers were elected,and a thriving economy began to emerge, adding the Palestinian national self-image.At the same time, elements in Israel society transgressed declared Israeli governmental policies, often with the surreptitious support of members of the Government, and began to settle in the West Bank and Gaza, leading once again to a rise in tensions between Israeli settlers and the Arab population, all the more so when the declared purpose of the settlers was to establish themselves in locations meant toobviate the possibility of an Arab Palestinian State.Originally, the motivation of these settlers was religious, reflecting the later conviction of radical Islamists among the Palestinians. They believed the land –all the land –was given to Israel by God and there must be wholly in Israel’s lands. Political wisdom, historical realities, let along moral considerations, were not part of their thinking.Following the 1967 six-day war, increased contact between Arab Israelis and their fellow-Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza brought about a change in the way Israel Arabs viewed themselves. Many now identify themselves as Israeli Palestinians. Israelibecause they have no desire to live in an Arab Palestinian State. Palestinianbecause they identify with the desire to see such a State established, much as Jewish citizens of France, the UK or the USA, for example, support the Jewish State but prefer to remain in their respective countries.Israeli Palestinians have largely declined to engage in violent activity; they have supported the creation of an Arab Palestinian State by political means. This, in turn, led to a measure of tension between Israeli Jews and Israeli Palestinians which has largely been kept at a reasonable level, with few outbursts of anger on both sides.Over time, the Israeli-Arab conflict was transformed into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yasser Arafat, from his headquarters in Lebanon,lead an armed resistanceby way of terrorist attacks. In 1982, when Palestinian militants attempted to murder Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, Shlomo Argov, severely wounding him, Israel attacked the PLO
  3. Lebanon and ultimately forced his and his militants’ departure from Lebanon. The absence of the PLO and the weakness of the Lebanese Government created a vacuum unto which Hezbollah, a newly-founded Shi’ite organization backed by Iran was formed. The Israel army, supported by south Lebanese citizens, established itself in southern Lebanon to protect northern Israeli villages and cities for attacks. Hezbollah led the battle to rid Lebanon of Israeli presence and finally, in 2,000, Israel withdrew.(To be continued)In GazaIsrael continues to makeadvances inRafah, southernGaza, destroying the smuggling tunnels leading in to Sinai peninsula which serve as Hamas’s life-line, providing an avenue for the provision of cash, drugs and –most important –weaponry and the means to create missiles. International concern over the likelihood of extensive civilian casualties have been allayed as Israel facilitated the relocation of 1.4 residents and refugees from Gaza. This, however, in no way erases the reality of significant suffering on the part of the civilian population due to the loss of their homes and livelihoods and the repeated need to relocate. A recent United Nations investigation into the circumstances in Gaza confirms what Israel has repeatedly claimed over against Hamas-fed media reports: there is no hunger in Gaza. The markets are fill and large quantities of food, medicines and other necessities are available in spite of Hamas’ efforts to commandeer theseand use them to perpetuate civilian dependence on the organization.Upon completion of this second stage in the war against Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will evacuate Rafah as it has other parts of Gaza and, upon receipt of relevant intelligence, engage is periodic and unannounced military incursions. In light ofexperience gained from the West’s struggle with Al-Qaida and ISIS, this third stage of the war is expected to last for years and will only end when a less militant Palestinian body takes over responsibility for Gaza (of which more in a later part of this series).In Sajaiye, in the north of the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces conducted just such a surprise incursion and are rooting out hundreds of Hamas militants, many of who are ensconced in United Nations school and warehouses.In The NorthHezbollah has lobbed over 19,000 missiles at Israel since it initiated its first unprovoked attack October 7. In response, Israel has taken up a systematic effort to destroy Hezbollah’s military infrastructure south of the Litani river and to drive the organizations elite commando force away from the border with Israel. So far, Israel’s efforts have been successful. The major part of Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the area has been destroyed –at terrible cost to Lebanese civilian homes in which Hezbollah, Hamas-like established itself. Some 80,000 Israelis have had to evacuate their homes close to the border, as have some 120,000 Lebanese civilians. Israel is now targeting Hezbollah’s air-defense system while seeking to stymie Iran’s efforts to re-arm the organization.According to the United Nations Resolution No. 1701 to which both Israel and Hezbollah are signatory, Hezbollah is not to have a military presence south of the Litani river. Israel
  4. insists Hezbollah live up to its undertaking and threatens that, if it refuses, the IDF will have no other option but to forcibly remove Hezbollah from that area. The experience of October 7 has taught Israel the likely implications of having Hezbollah in close proximity to Israeli farms, villages and cities.
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