Yes, shoot

To paraphrase Zeev Jabotinsky, we should decide that when faced with Palestinian terrorism, the protocol is "Yes, shoot." And paraphrasing IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, who said "not to empty an ammunition clip," we should say, "Yes, the entire clip." Don't shoot someone who is already on the ground, or anyone who has thrown down their weapon and put up their hands, but until they're wounded and subdued and cuffed, shoot repeatedly.

Although Tuesday was a bloody day in the "Knife Intifada," the result was the right one. All the terrorists were killed, other than one woman who hadn't managed to brandish her knife. That's how it should be. No one should say that killing the terrorists doesn't achieve anything, either. Because the public only knows about the events in which blood is shed and has no idea how many Palestinians have been deterred from murdering Jews at the last minute and have put the kitchen knife back in the drawer.

This complicated message that people should try to get their hands on an attacker to wound him or her until they give up must be reiterated by Eizenkot, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, and Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh. It will require a few steps to implement. After the murder of off-duty IDF Staff Sgt. Tuvia Yanai Weissman in a stabbing attack, the chief of staff issued instructions to allow soldiers to take their weapons with them when leaving the base for weekends and holidays. But Channel 2 News reported on Tuesday that the order still hadn't been fully implemented. Even if a soldier doesn't take his weapon with him when he goes out to have fun, he'll have it on his shoulder on his way home and back to the base, which also increases security.

There is another series of steps that are not being taken. The law is not wielding a heavy hand against Palestinians in Israel illegally. Ya'alon is right when he argues that work permits for Palestinians who aren't participating in the intifada must not come under the gun, and we must increase the punishments for the Palestinians who are in Israel illegally. Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, speaking Tuesday evening, put it this way: Punish them, and the Israelis who employ them.

As part of this stage of battling terrorism, we must refurbish the security barrier, which has proved itself in the past, and complete it in the southern region. The success on the Egyptian border is proof that investing in a security fence achieves its goal.

But steps that accomplish little and cause great damage should be avoided. The demand to deport terrorists' families to Gaza is an example of one such move -- as if they would be less dangerous there than in Nablus. But this course of action should be avoided mainly to keep from damaging relations with the international legal system and the Western governments that support it.

Ultimately, Israel is handing this intifada reasonably well, although Israelis feel deep frustration that it hasn't been checked. It cannot be stopped by power alone, only by creating results that will frustrate the Palestinian side as well.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו