Thoughts on the Cease-fire

August 14, 2006 - 4:27 PM by

The Israeli English-language blogosphere is abuzz about the cease-fire which took effect this morning — with most bloggers feeling grim about how long the “cease” will last before we go back to “fire.” Here’s a round-up of opinions by Israelis across the country:

A mother in Ra’anana:

Well, we’re into the 3rd hour of the so called “cease-fire” (which Hezbullah still hasn’t really agreed to, btw, since they say they’ll keep fighting as long as there is even one Israeli soldier in Lebanon- and the IDF wisely won’t leave until the peacekeeping force comes in) and so far, all is quiet on the northern front. . . .

I was too upset to post anything yesterday. I mean, I was really depressed about the whole situation over here. First of all, I was watching Fox News and the crawl at the bottom of the screen suddenly said that Tzipi Livni announced that Israel will not give up on getting back the 2 kidnapped soldiers.

I practically screamed at my husband. “You know what that means? You know what that means? It means they’re NEVER coming back alive! If they’re still alive, they’ll be in those miserable prisons forever!” Ever since I’d heard that the soldiers’ return wasn’t included in the cease-fire, I was livid- and seeing Livni’s statement just made me snap. To me, it was so much boilerplate- the usual stuff the government says about its kidnapped/missing soldiers, whether they’re gone for 20 days or 20 years.

Please God, let me be wrong. Let those soldiers- and Gilad Shalit, anyone remember him?- come home soon. Alive.

And I was thinking about this stupid, senseless war we were dragged into, against our will. The way we were forced to be unwilling participants in whatever sick game Hezbollah is playing. What the hell was it for? All those soldiers dead, all those civilians dead, our economy and natural resources damaged, the people who had to spend all that time in bomb shelters or flee their homes altogether…..what the hell was it for? . . . .

All I know is that it doesn’t seem that the IDF accomplished anything long-lasting in this war. All the Hezbollah terrorists they killed, all the weaponry they destroyed- can’t all of that be replaced tomorrow with one phone call to Iran? We seem to be in just as much danger as before- especially now that Hezbollah has figuratively castrated our army in front of the whole world. . . .

And speaking of Iran, I spent a good part of yesterday worrying about August 22- the day their criminally insane (and according to Mike Wallace, “attractive.” Um, Mike?) president says he will respond to the US’s call that Iran stop its nuclear program. Many think he might nuke Israel on that day. So, yeah, that got me a bit bummed.

And THEN I started thinking about how, even if Iran doesn’t decimate us, Israel will never be left alone by the terrorists surrounding us. Never. We’ll always be a nation under the threat of suicide bombings, Kassam rockets, and whatever other fun stuff the future holds. There will be no peace in our time. What a grim thought.

Jameel:

Only after the Israeli cabinet decided it was going to accept the ceasefire last week, did the “all out ground offensive” take place. IDF troops reached the Litani river on Shabbat, and according to the Israeli government, we now have all the force needed in South Lebanon, up to the Litani river, to keep the area secure from Hizbolla.

However…yesterday, Sunday August 13th, was the day with the most Katyusha rockets to hit Northern Israel. My question is; the Israeli government will tell you that the Litani is of important strategic value and that a strong IDF/UNFIL/LEBANESE ARMY force needs to be in place in South Lebanon, to keep Northern Israel safe. Yet, that’s exactly where the IDF was on Shabbat and Sunday…and we managed to get hit by over 250 rockets! Is it possible they were fired from North of the Litani? If the IDF is in place south of the Litani, and yesterday was our worst day of rocketeering in the 35 days of fighting…then something is very very wrong.

1. Either the rockets are all coming from North of the Litani (in which case, the entire claim that the ceasefire is good for us, because it places an international force in South Lebanon, is a sham)

2. The IDF currently has at least 30,000 soldiers in South Lebanon, south of the Litani river, and yet, we were shot up pretty badly yesterday. Why will any other armed force be able to do the job better?

Rock of Galilee:

Everyone is saying that Israel lost this war big time. We didn’t accomplish any of our goals. The terms are demeaning and humiliating. The war will probably break out again in another 6 months. We, as would all the other refugees and bomb shelter dwellers, would prefer to keep our status for another couple weeks if that’s what it takes to actually win.

Why would I say that the ceasefire is good for Israel? You have to look at the reason why Israel lost this war to understand that. Israel has no leadership. The prime minister has said on more then one occassion that he is “tired of defeating our enemies.” He was a reporter in the army and has no fighting experience. The defense minister worked in the supply chain and has spent the past number of years holding Israel hostage as the head of the labor union. This is like a beevis and butthead movie, though we certainly don’t want to insult beevis or butthead. The fact is that as long as Olmert and Peretz are running the show the Israeli army is fighting with both arms tied behind their backs and clear instructions not even to try and spit at their enemies. It would be a complete massacre to try and actually win this war without leadership.

Lets thank God that we were only humiliated this time, throw out the crappy politicians and put some people in power who are not tired and who want to win.

Danya Ruttenberg:

Well, today’s theoretically the first day of the cease-fire, but it’s not clear how much ceasing there will be. I’m nervous, I’m really nervous about this. I’m glad that there’s a break from the killing on both sides, and… I don’t know. This feels to me less like the end of something than a brief respite before the beginning of Act II. Not even really an intermission. Dear God, do I hope I’m wrong. Maybe the UN people will come in and really manage to keep things quiet. I really hope so.

In any case, the Lebanese refugees deserve to go back home, and the folks in the North here deserve to have a little quiet. God willing the return to some sort of routine won’t be temporary for anybody.

Tags: • Category: A New Reality 

Comments

One Comment on Thoughts on the Cease-fire

  1. Pajamas Media on Mon, Aug 14th 2006 9:27 PM

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