As the latest Gaza campaign unfolds, it is worth underlining some points that are not going to be mentioned in the anti Israel press in UK.
If Gaza is so “isolated” as some would have us believe , how is it that they can get thousands of missiles imported.? If they can so easily bring in so much hardware, why cant they bring in the goods and services of normal life ?
If Gaza is so poor and impoverished, how is it that they can afford the hundreds of millions of dollars that these weapons must have cost ? If Iran or others have paid for it, why havent they used the money to help the Gazans improve their quality of life ?
Let there be no mistake, when Ariel Sharon made the appalling decision to withdraw from Gaza, Israel handed a reasonably viable state to the Palestinians , and they have chosen to deliberately ignore the potential for development, and turned it into a breeding ground for fanaticism.
On the Israeli side, there are some interesting points to make.The Iron Dome anti missile system has proven to be so remarkable, that it will change the future of warfare.
It has saved countless Israeli lives so far. The American tax payer deserves tremendous thanks. Each battery costs $200 million dollars, and there are supposedly 5 batteries in operation. I understand that a minimum of 11 batteries would cover the whole country. Each missile costs at least $30,000. The economic potential for export of the Iron Dome, must be huge..
The number of Israeli reservists called up, is quoted as 30,000 and then a further 70,000. These are huge numbers. In theory Israel has access to approximately 500,000 reservists, but how effective many of these would be is doubtful. Thus, the current 100,000 called up must reflect a very high proportion of the Israeli army’s effective strength. Clearly if they do go into Gaza with land forces, they will be an enormously formidable force.
It is possible of course, that many of the forces will be used as back up in case Hezbollah in Lebanon decides to get involved. To my mind, this is the most remarkable factor in the whole situation, namely that Hezbollah has not so far joined the war. Maybe their involvement in the Syrian Civil War on Assad’s side, is limiting their options at this time. It is something we should be grateful for, because if Hamas has a lot of rockets, it’s a fraction of Hezbollah’s arsenal.
How we ever got to a position where Israel is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of missiles, is a question the Israelis will be asking of their Governments, when this current situation is over. One thing is clear, we cannot return to the status quo . Hamas must be made to stop the missile fire permanently. We cant go through this every few years.
*
Levy is a freelance writer who divides his time between London and Eilat
1 thought on “Answering fallacious arguments of Gaza crisis”
Howard Rubenstein
This is a highly reasonable argument and much sounder than anything Dershowitz or Oren advances. israel as usua, has a PR problem, and Arab lies forcefully presented have greater influence on world opinion than Israeli truth weakly stated. Surely there are effective spokesmen who can change this. Where are they?
This is a highly reasonable argument and much sounder than anything Dershowitz or Oren advances. israel as usua, has a PR problem, and Arab lies forcefully presented have greater influence on world opinion than Israeli truth weakly stated. Surely there are effective spokesmen who can change this. Where are they?