Israeli Politicians Want War With Gaza

Over the last week Israeli leading politicians are calling for widespread military activities in the Gaza Strip. Haim Ramon, Deputy Israeli Prime Minister declared yesterday that Israel should look in to disconnecting Gaza from electricity and Water supplies. Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, joined in to the chorus and former IDF Chief Of Staff and Transportation Minister, Shaul Mofaz, slammed Ehud Olmert for the restraint being shown. The cabinet met this week and decided to look in to the legal binding of continuing the flow of power, water and produce through its borders.

While these statements come at a questionable time due to the fact that nothing much has changed rockets have continued to hit Sderot, at an average of about 20 per week since the over through in June. It seems strange that now, instead of three months ago, the Israeli political echelon have decided to look in to the options at hand for Israel. Dov Wiesglass, a prominent Israeli lawyer and aid to former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, points out the legal side of civilian sanctions against Gaza. It seems that the big guns are out and raring to go. So the service embargo and siege are on the table and Israel will start heating up the atmosphere with the electricity and maybe water embargo. They want to play hard ball, while on a legal table the ideas may indeed will be legal, but will they bring Hamas to its knees? Over history attacking civilian population has never succeeded, the Nazi's tried bombing London, the Americans tried burning out the Vietcong, these actions only made the civilian population more hardheaded. For Israel these implications will expose it to an unprecedented level of international pressure. It will certainly unite Palestinians both in the West bank and also of course in that Gaza Strip. While Israel can not stand by with their hands in their pockets while being pounded time and time again, but it looks like Israel is going down the wrong road again. In the end the rockets will continue to fly in to its towns.Hamas on its part will grow stronger and stronger due to the despair and strife Israel will be causing the Palestinians. It will divert the internal frustration from their undemocratic activities and the Arab world, the West and the Palestinians will blame Israel. Instead Israel needs to hold its ground focus on pinpoint operations targeting terrorists and its infrastructure, while continuing despite the rockets to feed Gaza's needs. All of the Hamas leadership should feel personally threatened, maybe this will bring them to the decision that Israel is here to stay and that they need to find a way to live with their neighbours.