Another surrender by Israel

Palestinian Islamic Jihad is crowing victory over Israel. And why not? Israel is retreating in the face of PIJ rockets.

“The decision to evacuate recruits from the Zikim base is yet another victory for the Palestinian resistance. Yesterday Erez, tomorrow Zikim – what will be next? I leave that decision to the Israelis,” a spokesman for the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, told Ynet on Monday.

The spokesman, Abu Ahmed, said the new victory proves the Palestinian strategy is working, and that Israelis cannot bear the incessant attacks.

“This is the kind of decision we have never seen before, and this is a massive achievement for the resistance,” he said.

This is the evacuation he’s talking about:

The army is preparing to remove all new recruits from the Zikim base near Gaza within several short months, Ynet has learned.

IDF officials said the decision is unrelated to the threat of Qassam rockets from the Gaza Strip, even though the Zikim base has already been struck in the past. Other troops will be stationed at the base, the army said.

The final decision on the matter was made several days ago in a meeting chaired by IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, Major-Genral Dan Harel. The proposal to stop training recruits at Zikim is part of a wider program seeking to minimize the number of younger soldiers in the ‘archetypal’ recruit bases.

The new policy would see soldiers being assigned directly to their designated units immediately after being drafted, and those units would also be responsible for their basic training.

It’s easy enough to see why PIJ would use this as a sign of victory. Even the Israelis think the IDF is retreating. Olmert is granting Hamas a truce that doesn’t include the return of Gilad Shalit, that won’t stop Hamas from stockpiling weapons, and will open the borders. Olmert is talking about giving murderer Samir Kuntar his freedom in exchange for two Israeli prisoners that we don’t even know are dead or alive. And another kassam hit Ashkelon today, wounding another Israeli civilian. The Gaza War of Attrition continues, and the Palestinians are currently winning.

“Zikim was chosen because it’s the biggest basic training base, and relocating its recruits directly into their corps will realize the program’s goals. The IDF is not running away form the Gaza vicinity,” added the source.

The meeting that led to the decision to pull the recruits out of the base, it appears, made no mention of the September 2007 incident in which Qassam landings in the base rendered 67 soldiers wounded. Following the incident, the IDF began fortifying the base – a project which has coast about NIS 5 million (approx. $1.46 million) to date.

The decision, however, was perceived as puzzling by the base commanders. “How can this be?” wondered aloud one of the officers stationed in Zikim; “They told us that us staying here, with the recruits, close to the citizens who live under fire, was of the utmost importance.”

The IDF action gives the impression that it’s leaving civilians to be the front line between Israel and Gaza. Is it any wonder that both Israelis and Palestinians think the IDF is in retreat?