The strength of the Israel Defense Forces' strike on Islamic Jihad was determined on Wednesday according to the parameters of Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's perception, because there are no permanent solutions to the violent conflict in the Middle East, and all that can be done is "crisis management." In his eyes, it is up to Israel to determine what would be the best outcome of a given situation, nothing more -- and if possible, nothing less. This is the case in the diplomatic arena and in military clashes. The strength of the Israeli response to enemy fire is consequently based on the assumption that sometimes a military operation that would return tranquility to the western Negev for a few months is needed: And the level of calm between operations will be determined by the balance of painful attacks and restraint that allows Palestinian terror organizations a cease fire without diminishing their prestige. The weeks before the current outbreak were characterized by silence stemming from the series of arrests carried out by the Hamas regime against members of Islamic Jihad and extremist organizations. But these measures caused great anger among activists. They demanded an end to the cease fire, but did not manage to convince Hamas. The situation changed after three Islamic Jihad members who harassed the IDF during routine operations were killed, meanwhile a green light was given by Iran, which was embarrassed by the exposure of its arms shipment. Ultimately, in the foreseeable future, the IDF and Hamas, and most of the time, also Islamic Jihad, are interested in calm along the border. Yet, a cluster of activities that are usually quite random leads to inevitable friction, causing a violent outburst from Palestinians in Gaza, and of course, a measured response from Israel, which assumes, as stated, that there is no permanent solution to this problem. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman repeated Thursday his view that military operations do not solve the problem, and therefore, his consistent stance is to re-conquer Gaza. Only, he does not have the answer of whom to turn the strip over to after this move turns the world against Israel. Gaza does not even have an alternative to Mohammed Dahlan (the former Fatah leader in the strip) to replace the Hamas government. He fled in 2007 and does not dare return. The final rockets from this round are falling in the western Negev. The Palestinians are holding on to some kind of unwritten convention (why-), as if they always reserve the right to be the last to pull the trigger. This means that there is a good chance that Friday, and especially on Sunday and Monday, which are school holidays, the greatest enemy of the Purim costumes and parades will be the rain falling from the sky and not rockets raining down.
