By Ryan Jones
Oct 06, 2005
Israel does have a military solution to ?Palestinian? terrorism, despite Western and leftist assertions to the contrary, and the IDF is proving that fact every day, according to Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Dan Halutz.
?In contrast to the theory that the army cannot exterminate terrorism, I believe the army can reduce terrorism to the very lowest level,? Halutz said in a holiday interview with The Jerusalem Post.
The army chief would not say that terrorism could be eliminated completely, noting ?nothing in life can be brought to absolute zero,? but pointed out the tremendous successes Israel's relatively limited war on terror had already accomplished.
The past two years had seen a marked decrease in successful ?Palestinian? terrorist attacks, and not because of a lack of Arab motivation to kill the nation's Jews, Halutz said.
The ex-air force commander stressed the importance of constantly making obvious Israel's military strength and preeminence to its Arab neighbors in order to deter future aggression.
This was especially necessary as most of the Arab world, including the ?Palestinians,? had still not reconciled to the fact of the Jewish state's existence.
Halutz's comments challenged the popular assessment in Western capitals and among left-wing Israelis that ?Palestinian? terrorism can only be defeated by giving hope to the Arab masses in the form of Israeli concessions.
Conservative commentators have long pushed for Israel to first militarily defeat the forces intractably dedicated to its demise, and only then sue for peace.