Weekly Commentary: Israeli Leaders Seeking Only Gaza Quiet Set Security Bar
On The Ground
Dr. Aaron Lerner 1 November, 2018

They should know better.

These are national leaders with literally decades of experience.

And yet with a few notable exceptions, they all talk about "restoring quiet"
as being Israel's overarching goal vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip.

They appear to be convinced that if the Gazans aren't shooting at us that we
have "deterred" them.

But anyone even superficially following what has transpired since we
retreated from the Gaza Strip is aware that there's a lot going on when
there is "quiet".

Many years ago security officials would proclaim that if the Gazans were to
deploy "X" that this would be a "balance breaker" and require an Israeli
response.

Well. They have X, Y, Z and a lot more already deployed.

And we do nothing

Even when we engage in a tit for tat with the Gazans we typically don't even
try to destroy these weapons because we fear it would lead to an escalation.

Simply put, the Gazans have deterred us.

It has gotten so bad that the term "balance breaking" is no longer in our
lexicon when describing advances in the military capabilities of the Gazans.

These leaders seem to just want quiet for today and damn the consequences
tomorrow.

I heard the next COS, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, recently encourage officers to
think out of the box. Kochavi himself is famous for introducing a novel
method for moving forces in an urban setting under heavy fire (punching
holes in the walls to move between adjacent buildings).

I fervently hope that Kochavi pitches some ideas that compel the national
leaders to embrace a program that goes beyond seeking only temporary quiet.

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