Israel's Response to Hamas

Depending on one's eschatology, we are heading into a very interesting and violent 2009. As usual, Israel is at the center of international attention. Last week, Israel's defense minister served warning to Hamas that they would pay a heavy price if they persisted in strikes against Israel. Hamas responded by lobbing some eighty mortar shells and rockets into Israel. Israel's warning had been plain. They were fed up, so they retaliated. Now, over three hundred people are dead and a lot more are injured. Hard to say whether Hamas controlled and somewhat isolated Gaza will be able to do too much about it, but that isn't where the more serious military threats to Israel lay.

Hezbollah throughout Syria, Lebanon and especially Iran are the real threats to stability there. Syria is still whining about real estate they lost in the Six-Day War. Lebanon has unstable elements, and Iran's presidential leadership under the Ayatollah is radical to say the least. Now, the rumors are that Russia has delivered S-300 long range missiles to Iran to help stave off a pre-emptive strike on their nuclear facilities by Israel or anybody else, though Russia has publicly denied it.

Who knows if Iran will actually try to strike Israel with nukes. Israel is such a small country that it wouldn't take much of a strike to wipe it out. That fact alone makes it imperative to do something about Iran's nuclear capability. Iran is so radical, and its violent rhetoric is so extreme that one has to take them seriously. For the last several months, pundits have been saying it's likely that the Bush Administration would do something militarily about Iran before the President leaves office. With his administration soon to be on the way out, it doesn't look as though that will happen.

So what will happen with a president-elect entering the office who has publicly stated that "...what I have also said, though, is that I will take no options off the table in dealing with this potential Iranian threat," ? Hard to say whether President-elect Obama's desire to have negotiating talks with Iran will mean much during this gap between his upcoming administration and the out-going one.

Right now, Hamas enjoys a time where condemnation of Israel no matter what they do seems to be ridiculously high. Only the United States and Great Britain have expressed understanding for Israel's right and desire to defend itself from it's attackers. Hamas and Hezbollah are both fanatical groups whose desired goal is to rid the world of not only Israel as nation, but Jews as a people. For now, Hamas has used the now ended cease-fire to smuggle more arms into Gaza. I just listened to a pundit who said he did not know whether Hamas expected this kind of retaliation from Israel or not. They would be stupid not to. Israel usually follows through with their intentions when they are under the gun. They have to. This is the last stand for them as a people, so to speak. After being persecuted just about everywhere else on the planet, and with so many calling for their extermination, bad ideas like "land for peace" have proved to be ridiculously wrong, yet international political pressure continues to point toward that end. Israel may now have come to its senses after battling through waffling positions on the part of wishy-washy and short-sighted leadership. I hope so. I don't like war, but I like terroristic bullies even less, and that's what Hamas and Hezzbollah are.