Once again Charles Krauthammer has an excellent op-ed in today’s Washington Post. His piece is along the lines of what I wrote yesterday. It deals with the “What now?” question facing Israel.

I agree with him that:

unilateralism is both correct and necessary. Israel has no peace partner — Mahmoud Abbas has nothing to offer and has offered nothing — and in the absence of a partner, there is only one logical policy: Rationalize your defensive lines and prepare for a long wait.

Israel did what it had to do. Will it get the credit? Will it get security? Doubtful on both parts. He goes into the shift in security that Israel is moving towards. The West Bank wall is nearing completion. That wall will protect Israeli holdings in the West Bank and the pullout from Gaza will protect them on their southern flank. These actions may cut down on the number of suicide bombers hitting Israel proper, but it will not stop rocket and mortar attacks. His solution is the best I have heard:

For months Palestinians have been firing rockets from Gaza into towns within Israel proper. The attacks are momentarily in suspension, but with the enhanced ability to smuggle in weapons from Egypt, and with no Israeli patrols looking for them, the attacks will resume and get far worse
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What to do? Something Israel should have done long ago: active and relentless deterrence. Israel should announce that henceforth any rocket launched from Palestinian territory will immediately trigger a mechanically automatic response in which five Israeli rockets will be fired back. There will be no human intervention in the loop. Every Palestinian rocket landing in Israel will instantly trigger sensors and preset counter-launchers. Any Palestinian terrorist firing up a rocket will know that he is triggering six: one Palestinian and five Israeli.
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After but a few Israeli demonstrations of “non-massive retaliation,” the Palestinians themselves will shut down their terrorist rocketeers.

Israel will be denounced at the UN and by the MSM. But what else is new? Why can’t they be more tolerant? Yeah, like the U.S. would tolerate rocket attacks from Mexico. Nope, we would bomb them and probably deploy the army to protect our southern border. Which, is something I advocate anyway.

It will be a bloody mess, but if Israel stands by its commitment to self defense, eventually, maybe, the attacks will stop.

Of course the world and the MSM see this as an opportunity to hit Israel even harder.

The New York Times called the Gaza withdrawal “only the beginning” and declared sonorously that Ariel Sharon “must also be forewarned” that giving up the West Bank must be next

This is a counsel of folly. The idea that if only Israel made more concessions and more withdrawals, the Palestinians would be enticed into making peace is flatly contradicted by history.

It is funny how the MSM and the UN forget about history. I am not even talking about ancient history; no this is just recent history. But I guess if history gets in the way of their “facts”, well then, why not just ignore it? After all the sheeple (I once saw that on DU) out there will never know.
But to re-cap recent history to those who think Israel is to blame for everything:

Under Oslo, Israel made massive, near-suicidal concessions: bringing the PLO back to life, installing Yasser Arafat in power in the West Bank and Gaza, permitting him to arm militia after militia, and ultimately offering him (at Camp David 2000) the first Palestinian state in history, with a shared Jerusalem and total Israeli withdrawal from 95 percent of the formerly occupied territories (with Israel giving up some of its own territory to make the Palestinians whole).

How were these concessions met? With a savage terrorist war that killed 1,000 Israelis and maimed thousands more.

I guess I should not be surprised. The Left and the majority of the Arab world see Israel as an illegitimate state. The fact that it is free and prosperous makes it even worse. These people want to see Israel, and of course the JOOOOOS who live there, pushed into the sea. They want to see the Arab “citizens” of Israel lined up against the wall and “taken care of” for betraying their heritage. This is not right wing paranoia; it is the stated goal of the enemies of Israel. Why else do Palestinian schools have maps that do not have Israel even shown?

I am not optimistic about the future of Israel. I know that I have been a bit pessimistic lately, but I think it is because the reality facing Israel is so bleak. Iran is trying to build a nuke as fast as possible. Why? To protect against the U.S.? Nope. To provide energy? Are you crazy? They sit on some of the deepest oil reserves in the world. No, the ONLY reason they want nukes is so that they can use them. Who do you suppose they want to use them against? Hmmm, let’s see…oh yeah, Israel!

I know some of you don’t believe that, but just watch and you will see. Israel will be forced to either take pre-emptive action, to which they will be condemned and probably attacked on all sides, or risk total obliteration.

We in the West like to think that we are civilized and advanced enough to toss off such crude things as war. We like to think that the rest of the world sees things our way. We value life. So everyone should value life. We value peace, so everyone should value peace. We value diplomacy and compromise, so everyone should value the same. Wrong, wrong, wrong! The land that Israel is made out of is Holy to Islam. They do not take this stuff lightly. The entire Arab world** sees Israel as an affront to their history and their religion. Their stated goal is the destruction of Israel. They have shown that they do not value life. They kill innocent men, women and children. They teach their kids to hate JOOOOS and to one day reclaim their homeland. What part of this do you not follow?

Isn’t it obvious that as soon as one of Israel’s enemies gets a nuclear weapon that they will use it? If they do not use it immediately, the Israeli military will be forced to take out the country. It will be brutal. It will be terrible, but you can not fault the Israelis. After all, their enemies have clearly announced their intentions. Why do you act so surprised when you see them carry out their plan? How will you blame the JOOOOS for that?

So yes, I am not optimistic about Israel’s chances of survival. It pains me to write that, and I hope and pray I am wrong.

** I know, I know, there are many Arabs out there who do not call actively call for the destruction of Israel. I may have been a bit harsh on that one. Maybe I should have said that the majority of Arabs/Palestinians around Israel feel this way.