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Rosner’s Domain: Terrorism, Twenty Years Later

Twenty years have passed since Israel launched Defensive Shield — the military operation that turned the tide on the Second Intifada.
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April 6, 2022
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Twenty years have passed since Israel launched Defensive Shield — the military operation that turned the tide on the Second Intifada. It started at the end of March, 2002 and lasted until mid-May of that year. Aviv Kochavi, the IDF Chief of Staff today, was the young commander of the Paratroopers Brigade. Tasked with a tough mission, to take over the Palestinian refugee camp of Balata while keeping civilians and soldiers as safe as possible, he came up with an idea. Ohad Laslau, who recently published the official history on Operation Defensive Shield, “From Containment to Decision,” records a meeting between Kochavi and then Chief of Staff, Shaul Mofaz, when an operation in the refugee camp of Balata, from which terrorists emerged to blow up busses and cafes, was about to begin.

Colonel Kochavi: What I want to tell you and that’s important, we sat here, and you know, the pressure produces ideas. We will do everything through houses, through roofs.

Lt. Col. Mofaz: What do you mean by “through houses”? 

Col. Kochavi: What is through houses? … tomorrow morning … ten soldiers with disks [will join us].

Mofaz: What is it?

Colonel Kochavi: With disks, to cut through the walls…”

And that’s what they did, moving through the crowded camp, as they cut through the walls of linked houses. The booby traps, the snipers, the ambushes that were prepared for the paratroopers in the streets remained unused as the soldiers slowly moved into the camp without having to expose themselves to such attacks. Laslau describes what happened next: “At the sight of the holes in the walls of the houses in the Balata refugee camp, Mofaz feared that the legitimacy of the action would be compromised, and instructed ‘try to avoid damage, all these holes in the walls, where there are openings, where there are doors and there are windows, use them.'”

Ultimately, the idea was brilliant and the operation a psychological and operational success. But the fight was far from over. The IDF did not yet deter or significantly harm the capability of the terrorist organizations. This took more effort, more time.

It’s been twenty years, and Israel is again asking itself whether a Third Intifada is coming. A string of terror attacks have put the country on alert and rekindled the apprehension and fear of days long gone. Do they not remember how this ended the last time they tried? Do they not know – they, that is, the terrorists — that Israel would not cave under threats and attacks? The answer is, well, complicated.

“They” were very young, maybe not yet born, when Israel launched operation Defensive Shield. So, while the older among us do remember, while the older among us are still traumatized — and also quite certain that Israel shall overcome — the younger Palestinians have no clear memory of how their effort to beat Israel failed in the Second Intifada, and the younger Israelis have no clear memory of how Israel was able to master its resilience amid a huge wave of cruel and needless bloodshed.

Those looking at the Russia-Ukraine war keep asking if this is a “third world war” or a “second cold war,” as if the only option is to have a sequel of a preexisting phenomenon.

Of course, this could also be just another small wave, an eruption of violence that ends within a few weeks, or short months, or it could be something else that we do not quite understand. It is human folly to always look for the familiar pattern as we interpret current developments. Thus, those looking at the Russia-Ukraine war keep asking if this is a “third world war” or a “second cold war,” as if the only option is to have a sequel of a preexisting phenomenon. Thus, those looking at Arab Israelis and Palestinians using violence against Israelis prepare for a “third Intifada,” and a need for a “second Defensive Shield operation,” as if the only option for Israel and the Palestinians is to have a sequel of a preexisting phenomenon.

It is not the only option, and in fact, not even the best option. “Defensive Shield,” writes Laslau, “is a type of military operation that does not have a tangible achievement, in the form of victory. Indeed, its main achievement was in restoring the IDF’s freedom of action in all areas [of Judea and Samaria], at any given time.” In short, twenty years ago Israel did not yet win; it merely learned how to win. It also learned to ignore those who say that terrorism is unbeatable by military means. It is beatable. And if necessary, Israel will prove it once more.

Something I wrote in Hebrew

I wrote about a study that showed two things: First, religious Israelis care much more about diaspora Jews than secular Israelis. And, second, this changes when Israelis are asked whether they agree to take into account the views of diaspora Jews on state-religion affairs.

All of this, of course, creates a kind of paradox: The more Jews in Israel feel responsible for the Diaspora, the less they are willing to compromise ideologically to allow Diaspora Jews to feel at home here. The more Jews in Israel are willing to let Diaspora Jews feel at home, the less they care about the connection with Diaspora Jews. Here, too, is a kind of explanation for some of the crises in relations between Israel and the Diaspora. Those who want relationships are not willing to be flexible in matters of Jewish identity. Those who are willing to be flexible in matters of Jewish identity are not particularly interested in relationships.

A week’s numbers

And this is what it looks like:

A reader’s response:

Zvi Erez asked: “Is Bennett getting more political support because of his success as Prime Minister?” Answer: One, not everyone sees it as success. And two, no. 


Shmuel Rosner is senior political editor. For more analysis of Israeli and international politics, visit Rosner’s Domain at jewishjournal.com/rosnersdomain.

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