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War on Terror

Analysis: Israel drops its guard


By Ryan Jones
August 31, 2005

The Jews of Israel have been told that the withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria will bring them greater security allowing them to return to a semblance of terror-free living.

When senior security officials in January pointed out the increased danger 46 Negev towns would live under as a result of the Gaza pullout, the government was quick to point out the funds it had set aside to protect Jewish life.

In addition, the Sharon government vowed to launch a crushing military response the first time Gaza-based terrorists dared to fire a rocket or mortar shell into the Negev following ?disengagement,? ensuring such aggression only happened once.

That first rocket attack came and went last week, with the government pointing to diplomatic considerations to excuse its failure to retaliate.

It was fear of precisely this sequence of events that led many Negev residents to fervently oppose Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's withdrawal policies.

Their concerns were not lessened Tuesday when Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz told residents of Netiv Ha'asara just north of Gaza that absolute protection could not be provided.

Instead, the residents of 46 Negev towns, their numbers far outstripping the 8,000 Jews of Gaza Israel insisted it could no longer defend, will become the new front-line communities.

Most will now experience life under a menace they have yet to be exposed to ? the peril of fiery death from above.

In place of highly-trained IDF soldiers and the Jews who chose to risk their lives to settle Gaza, the men, women and children of the Negev will now become the first target of ?Palestinian? mortar and rocket squads.

And the reward for this life-threatening risk?

A piece of paper signed by the American president ostensibly lending Israel unprecedented support to indefinitely hold on to strategic parts of its biblical heartland and reject Arab demands to flood the Jewish state with millions of ?refugees.?

History suggests it is not worth the paper it is written on. The currency that will pay for it, however, will be more Jewish blood.

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