On Wednesday I sat in on a laid back lecture at Sderot's Sapir College. I then visited the unique ruins in Kibbutz Zikkim the sun was shining, the trees were in bloom and the western Negev that hugs the Gaza border was serene and picturesque. And suddenly, everything changed. On Thursday, the Israel Air Force killed a senior terrorist who had been plotting an attack against Israelis. A million Israelis went into preparation mode, awaiting the inevitable barrage of rockets, listening for the early warning siren or the whistle of a Qassam or Grad rocket. As usual, this horrible anticipation became reality shortly after sundown several rockets were fired. Who can say when this will end- It is as though we see the rocket fire into Israel as a predetermined consequence of our attempts to defend ourselves. As though each one of us, in our hearts, consults a price chart: How many Palestinian rockets for killing one terrorist? What will be the response based on the volume of fire and the number of casualties? This is an anomaly that characterizes life south of Ashdod all the way to Beersheba, Gvaram and Nahal Oz near Gaza. This anomaly does not take hold of Israeli life every once in a while, but rather every day, even when there is the illusion of calm. No other sovereign country allows its neighbor's reign of terror to turn a million citizens into hostages. No other country would put up with the reality that the average Israeli accepts as fact: The assassination of a terrorist will inevitably be followed by some kind of salvo targeting his home and his property. This leaves the ball permanently in Hamas' court. The violence does not start with the killing of a senior terrorist like Isam Batash, it starts with this very terrorist's actions the plotting of the next terror attack against Israel. If he were not a terrorist, Israel would not have killed him in self-defense. Hamas and other terror groups continue to call the shots as this cycle of violence progresses: They decide how many rockets are fired into Israeli communities and when the barrage stops, based on Israel's actions. Any decent analysis of the situation would lead to the same conclusion reached by IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz: Israel will have to engage, this year, in a comprehensive offensive against the terror base threatening Israel's south. That is not to say that the situation will be resolved this year, and maybe not next year either, but eventually the lulls in violence will not include occasional terrorist action while Israel is expected to maintain calm. Fighting terror is becoming increasingly harder. Hamas is hiding deep underground, Israel's bitter enemies are challenging it in the international arena and the Arab world is teeming with hostility. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav Gallant said this week that terror has become so deeply rooted in Gaza that Israel will eventually have no choice but to "enter with bulldozers." This war is being forced on us.
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