The terror taking place in the south is not new. The terror attack near Eilat last week that disrupted the months-long cease-fire was not the first event of its kind. Israel's response to restore the calm was nothing new, either. Terrorism is like an earthquake. It may not be followed by another quake of equal intensity but it always results in a series of aftershocks. And then quiet returns, and holds until it is yet again disrupted by another attack. When our government decided, for various reasons, to acquiesce to the Egyptian request to issue a tempered response to last week's murders north of Eilat, it was clear there would be more tension before total quiet was temporarily restored. There are many reasons for this lingering aftereffect, including the Palestinian tendency to make sure they always get the last strike, as well as Hamas' difficulties with central command and control in Gaza. The hail of rockets from the Gaza Strip has abated, but it has not ceased entirely. Many Israelis feel our response was insufficient and accepted the cease-fire begrudgingly. But then the issue of Ismail al-Asmar came up. The senior Islamic Jihad commander was planning another terror attack, and Israel had no reason or justification to wait until it was carried out. Had he not been preparing another attack, the IDF would not have killed him such a short time after the cease-fire went into effect. Less than a week before the start of the school year and less than a month before the U.N. General Assembly convenes to, most likely, deliberate a Palestinian request for statehood, there are serious constraints on Israel's freedom of action. Throughout the month of September they will grow even tighter. Better to strike a senior terrorist like Asmar now than to wait until next month. Following his death, the alert level in the south was once again raised. Residents went back into their protected rooms. The Iron Dome was redeployed. The hot metal raining down on the communities of the Negev has slowed to a drizzle, and will soon stop until the next round.
