Detering the deterrers

On September 9, 2003 16 people and more than 80 were wounded in two suicide bombings in Israel.

Sept 9, 2003 – Nine IDF soldiers were killed and 30 people were wounded in a suicide bombing at a hitchhiking post for soldiers outside a main entrance to the Tzrifin army base and Assaf Harofeh Hospital. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: Senior Warrant Officer Haim Alfasi, 39, of Haifa; Chief Warrant Officer Yaakov Ben-Shabbat, 39, of Pardes Hanna; Cpl. Mazi Grego, 19, of Holon; Capt. Yael Kfir, 21, of Ashkelon; Cpl. Felix Nikolaichuk, 20, of Bat Yam; Sgt. Yonatan Peleg, 19, of Moshav Yanuv; Sgt. Efrat Schwartzman, 19, of Moshav Ganei Yehuda; and Cpl. Prosper Twito, 20, of Upper Nazareth. Sgt. Liron Siboni, 19, of Ramat Gan died of her wounds on November 19. Sept 9, 2003 – Seven people were killed and over 50 wounded when a suicide bomber at Cafe Hillel on Emek Refaim St., the main thoroughfare of the German Colony neighborhood in Jerusalem. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. The victims: Dr. David Appelbaum, 51, and his daughter Nava Appelbaum, 20, of Jerusalem; David Shimon Avizadris, 51, of Mevaseret Zion; Shafik Kerem, 27, of Beit Hanina; Alon Mizrahi, 22, of Jerusalem; Gila Moshe, 40, of Jerusalem; and Yehiel (Emil) Tubol, 52, of Jerusalem.

Three days earlier Israel had the opportunity to strike

It was Sept. 6, 2003, a time — much like today — of open warfare between Israel and Hamas, which Israel, the United States and Europe have labeled a terrorist group, and which now controls the Palestinian Authority. Eight Hamas leaders had gathered to plan terrorist attacks, Israeli intelligence reported. . . . A Shin Bet agent in the command center called out the identities of the men. “It was the ‘Who’s Who’ of Hamas,” said Gabi Ashkenazi, then Yaalon’s deputy. “People we’d been hunting for years.” “It got intense,” Yaalon recalled. “The reports — ‘Here comes Mohammed Deif.’ ‘Here comes Adnan al-Ghoul.’ ‘Here comes Ismail Haniyeh.’ They said the names, I pictured each one, and I pictured blown-up buses and disco bombings, and shootings, murders of children, and kidnapped soldiers.” Gallant, the prime minister’s adviser, called Sharon at his ranch and told him about the extraordinary gathering. “We’re talking about people responsible for killing hundreds of Israelis,” Gallant said. “They’re planning on killing hundreds more.”

In the end, then Prime Minister Sharon aborted the mission refusing to risk the civilian deaths. Would the September 9 terror attacks have been averted had Israel struck? Probably not, the proposed Israeli strike was too close to those terror attacks.
But in the next two months over 30 people would be killed in terror attacks, including 3 Americans in Gaza. Had Israeli struck some number of Israeli (and American) civilians likely would have been saved.

There will be no condemnation in Turtle Bay for those Israelis who weren’t protected by the pre-emptive strike. And not statement of concern from Foggy Bottom about the employees Israel failed to protect. But in Israel there could be a prosecution for killing Salah Shehadeh in June 2002. In that attack, 14 civilians were killed. According to the Geneva conventions (Article 28) there is no immunity to civilians when a combatant is present.

The State Prosecution has agreed to establish an independent commission to probe the death of 14 civilians during the targeted assassination of Salah Shehadeh in June 2002, Channel 10 reported Monday evening. Shehadeh was Hamas’s military leader in the Gaza Strip at the time. A one-tone bomb dropped by Israeli aircraft on a Gaza City neighborhood killed Shehadeh and an additional 14 civilians who were in the area. The State Prosecution informed the High Court of Justice on its decision to launch the investigation during a hearing on a petition submitted by the extreme left-wing group Yesh Gvul.

It’s difficult enough fighting an enemy that doesn’t respect any international limits on targeting non-combatants. But when those fighting terror have to worry about possible legal complications of their actions, it makes their job nearly impossible. This threatens to deter the deterrers more than it will deter the terrorists. As Israel Matzav asks

Suppose – by some miracle – Ehud K. Olmert decides next month that the time has come to introduce Ismail Haniyeh or Mahmoud al-Zahar to their 72 virgins. Who in the IDF will carry out the order?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

israel, terrorism.