Where We Stand

Israeli Military Officials on the Need for a Political Solution and the Limits of Force

Superior Israeli Firepower Isn't Likely to End Terror, By MICHAEL R. GORDON, THE NEW YORK TIMES, April 14, 2002

Israeli and American officials say the military operation may achieve many of its aims, especially if the Israeli military is given the weeks it says it needs to finish. Still, even Israeli officials acknowledge that military action alone cannot halt terrorist bombings if the Palestinians are determined to resist. To stop the bombing attacks completely, some sort of political accommodation between Israel and the Palestinians is needed, they say. "The best protection is going to be a decision by the Palestinians not to do it," a senior Israeli military official said in an interview. "A buffer zone can contribute, will contribute, but it is not foolproof."

There are no illusions that there can be a purely military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, the recent operation has already had a very real effect in disrupting terrorist plans and degrading terrorist capabilities. In human terms, that will translate into many Israeli lives saved.

Nitsan Alon, a colonel in the Israeli Defense Force, is a visiting scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. (NY TIMES, APRIL 12, 2002)

Danny Yatom, former director of the Israeli spy agency Mossad and a security policy advisor to former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, said the current tactics will not stop suicide bombers. "There is no doubt that individuals who carry out attacks will be able to survive even a very heavy search," Yatom told Israeli radio Monday. "Even if we stay in the territories for a very long time, we will not be able to smash the terrorist infrastructure." (The Los Angeles Times , APRIL 2, 2002)

Negative balance sheet

Shlomo Gazit, Former Head of Israeli Military Intelligence

THE JERUSALEM POST, April 16, 2002

The debit side begins with the question of Defensive Shield's central goal: Have we succeeded in harming the terror infrastructure to an extent that will ensure a complete cessation, or at least an serious reduction in the scope of murderous attacks? I am afraid the answer is an unequivocal no, because the main threat does not come from the thousands of weapons seized, nor from the manpower reserves of terrorists. The operation did not eliminate or reduce the most important element of the murderous attacks - that of the motivation that mobilizes young Palestinian men and women to carry them out, and nothing has encouraged and strengthened that motivation as much as Operation Defensive Shield. There is only one way to achieve full elimination of the terrorist infrastructure and that is the permanent presence of a security authority that rules over the entire Palestinian territory and acts effectively against any attempt at terrorist organization.

IDF Intelligence Research Department head Brig.-Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser told the [the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense] committee that expelling Arafat would not stop prospective suicide bombers, and the operations may end up strengthening Arafat." Jerusalem Post, 4/3/02

Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer: IDF can't stop terrorism without a return to peace talks with the Palestinians

By Gil Hoffman, April 3, 2002, THE JERUSALEM POST

The IDF's operations in the territories cannot totally stop Palestinian terrorist attacks, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee..." Whoever thinks the IDF operations can stop terrorism is mistaken," Ben-Eliezer said. "Terrorism cannot be stopped with military maneuvers. The operations are intended merely to disrupt the terrorism and stop as many attacks as possible." Ben-Eliezer said the operations are justified, because they will harm the terrorist infrastructure and permit the resumption of diplomatic talks.

Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer meanwhile said that the success of Operation Defensive Shield would be measured by how quickly its achievements could be turned into political negotiations. "The state is ready to enter into negotiations immediately," the minister said. (Ha'aretz, May 2, 2002)

[To the Israel Peace Watch Index]