By Ryan Jones
Jul 03, 2006
The residents of the Negev town of Sderot are all for the current military ground incursion into Gaza, dubbed "Operation Summer Rains," which is aimed at securing the release of abducted IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit.
But they are also a little upset that the fate of a single soldier elicits such a major response while near-daily Kassam rocket attacks on their town result in little more than token shelling of empty fields in northern Gaza.
Palestinian Arab forces have fired thousands of rockets and mortars at the beleaguered Negev town over the past several years.
Said Arieh Hanan to Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper:
"We're frustrated. Some 25,000 citizens are being held as captives in the hands of terror for five years, and the consensus wasn't with us since we demanded that the IDF enter the Gaza Strip. They always hinted that they would do it only after a major disaster, but what's a disaster? Not just wounded, but only dead. It's a game of blood."
Cohen noted that the residents of Sderot and other Jewish communities in the area have been begging the government for months to heed the assessment of military officials that the only way to end the attacks on their towns was to enter Gaza in force.
"Now, because of one kidnapped soldier the entire IDF is there. Of course, I think that they should do everything they can in order to bring him back, but what's the message to me? The message is that one soldier is more important than the entire Sderot population."
Others suggested Shalit's abduction was made possible because of the confidence the terrorists had gained as a result of Israel's inaction against the Kassam threat.
"You know why they kidnapped the soldier?" asked watermelon vendor Eli Yamin. "They did it because the government is sleeping. They aren't letting the IDF do its job."