There's an editorial in Ha'aretz today that begins by discussing the illusion of "calm" that's prevailed in Israel for the past six weeks.For a month and a half, from August 5 until September 18, the horrible scenes of suicide bombings disappeared from the streets of Israel. Between the Meron junction bombing and the one that took place at Umm al-Fahm this week, the country was quiet. But it was only a partial quiet - during those weeks, seven Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed in the territories - and it was a phony quiet, because beneath the surface the terrorist organizations bubbled with planning for strikes at the Israeli home front.
(For a more pointed synopsis of the quieter but ongoing terrorist activities in Israel over the past few weeks, see Meryl Yourish's post here.)
Predictably, though, Ha'aretz's recommended course of action is to leave well enough alone. The Planning Directorate officers emphasized that the key to that proposal, which includes the political horizon proposed by President Bush on June 24, is a "tolerable" level of terror. No terror is tolerable to its victims, but in national terms, a steadily declining monthly average of attacks is an important consideration for establishing that horizon. Terror must not be allowed to drag Israel into an escalation it does not want. But the real key is in the creation of a new opportunity for political channels, without which the terror will not disappear.Despite the dead and wounded yesterday on Tel Aviv's Allenby Street, in addition to the casualties from the day before, the government of Israel should not be drawn into taking exaggerated military steps. What should have been done and what should be done by the IDF and Shin Bet, is already being done. Two months ago, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon adopted a proposal by the IDF Planning Directorate, which in essence said Israel should wait for local and regional positive developments, including the anticipated American action against Iraq and the decline of Yasser Arafat.
Hope does spring eternal. And how far it leads us down this primrose path, it seems we have yet to discover. As the editors point out elsewhere in this piece, Israel has already stopped calling for the palestinians to honor most of their Oslo obligations, at least for the time being. When was the last time we heard anything about collecting illegal weapons, reducing the "police force" down to the agreed upon size or eliminating incitement to violence in the mosques and schools? And now Ha'aretz is actually defending the concept of a "tolerable level of terror?" Who said terrorism doesn't pay?
At any rate, it appears that the Israeli government may have its own ideas. Last night, Sharon called a meeting of his entire cabinet, not just the security cabinet as originally scheduled. Some commentators believe this may signal a fundamental policy change. And the cabinet has invoked national security secrecy as to the matters discussed at the meeting.
