Pre-emptive action

The people killed on Syrian soil Sunday were evildoers who were bent on hurting Israel. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah would like us to believe that he and his organization do not operate in Syria. But the truth is that they have tried to establish a foothold there that would serve both Hezbollah and Iran. From there they hoped they could train their guns on the Galilee and the Golan Heights. "If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first," says an old Jewish adage. This great rule of thumb can be summed up into two words: targeted killing.

Those who were in the convoy in Syria -- including the son of the dead terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, Jihad -- were what the Bible would call the "evil angels" (Psalms 78:49). They were mortals and their lives ended in appropriately. Period.

That said, the war on terrorism along our northern border did not start with their killing and it is unlikely to end with their burial. This week, as the Israel Defense Forces braces for a possible retaliation and beefs up security around communities in the Galilee and the Golan Heights, we have to address two issues:

1. We might find ourselves in a protracted war of attrition against an enemy many times stronger than Hamas. Let's hope that all possible scenarios were considered before the mission was greenlighted. A protracted escalation could undo the gains of these killings. In other words, if Hezbollah opts for a symbolic retaliation, we must make sure it is contained. We should uphold the long-held precedent that the enemy gets to fire the last salvo. This is just the right thing to do on a psychological level.
   

We are bound to hear more statements like the one sounded by Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav Galant on Sunday. Galant, who is No. 2 on the Kulanu Knesset candidate list, said the IDF had been used as an election prop in the past and hinted that this could have been the case this time around. We have all heard this old chestnut before. In fact, the same criticism was leveled at Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1981, after he took out Iraq's nuclear reactor (the approaching elections were not lost on Begin at the time and he even talked about the electoral impact the mission would have with then-Israeli Air Force chief David Ivry). If the government is to act with prudence, it must address this claim, in part because it serves to undermine its motives and in part because the opposition will blame it for being trigger-happy if things get out of control.

The wise thing to do would be to invite Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz to testify before the most secret subcommittee in the Knesset, where they would elaborate on what happened. This would generate national consensus that could help the nation deal with what's to come. Thinking ahead of the curve is the name of the game.

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