ISRAEL: "SPARE US THE LECTURES"

Spare Us the Lectures - Editorial
Israel's government is sure to be criticized for the way it protects its citizens. At times like this, there is always a chorus that pops up to lecture our leaders with the kind of advice that has proven, time and again, to be fatal. First they mourn the "regrettable loss of life" and bemoan the fact that "calm has been shattered." Then comes the familiar call for Israeli restraint, as if such restraint will prevent, rather than invite, the next attack. It will be stated that Israel roused the anger of the terrorists by rounding up them up and targeting their commanders.

The chorus overlooks the fact that Islamic Jihad commander Sa'adi had directed the murders of several Israelis and was planning new attacks when the IDF killed him. And they fail to grasp that it was precisely PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's failure to lift a finger to control groups like Islamic Jihad that made Israel's arrest raids in the West Bank and the neutralization of men such as Sa'adi an absolute imperative. (Jerusalem Post)

Behind the Palestinian Attack - Joshua BrilliantThe Islamic Jihad, which assumed responsibility for the Hadera attack, was behind this year's suicide bombings in Tel Aviv and Netanya, and the planning of more attacks. The Islamic Jihad's raison d'etre is the fight against Israel and the aim to eradicate it. Not just push it out of the West Bank, but kick it out of the entire land. According to Israeli military and foreign assessments, its armed wing, the al-Quds Brigades, has a "few hundred" members.

The attack underlines also the PA's weakness. Abbas genuinely opposes terror, but his hopes for "one gun" in the PA are, so far, just dreams. Since the Islamic Jihad is adamant on liquidating Israel, there is no room for a compromise with it. Fighting will continue until Israel, or the Palestinians, put an end to that movement. (UPI)