Military analyst Elliot Chodoff says the Israeli public’s behavior this past holiday week indicates that Palestinian terror has lost:
When Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin was killed by an Israeli missile, the criticism of the action was heavily seasoned with warnings that this would simply lead to another, heightened, round of Middle East violence. According to this logic, Hamas would now really, really try to launch terrorist attacks against Israel, in revenge for Yassin’s death, as opposed to the mere dozens it was attempting during the quiet period preceding his elimination.
Coupled naturally with the dire warnings were admonitions that travel to and in Israel had now become impossibly dangerous, so much so that a Spanish basketball team chose to forfeit a critical game rather than risk their lives coming to play in Tel Aviv.
We argued at the time that it was all a lot of nonsense. Terrorism would not increase, as the terrorist organizations were already operating at their full operational potential and attacks were being prevented by successful operations by the IDF and other security agencies. While the possibility of a successful attack remains a reality today, with the certainty that it will be attributed to the killing of Yassin, the fact remains that there has been no major terrorist success in the three weeks since Yassin was killed.
Exactly two years ago, the Passover holiday was shattered by the terrorist bombing of the Seder at the Park hotel in Netanya. The result, Operation Defensive Wall, was the first sustained Israeli military response to the terrorist war which had been launched in the fall of 2000. Israeli morale had never been lower; it seemed that terrorists had finally managed to dictate the national mood swings. Today, the situation has been turned 180 degrees.
If Hamas buried Sheikh Yassin’s remains three weeks ago, the Israeli public buried his ghost over the past few days. Rather than succumb to the repeated threats of terrorist organizations, Israelis handed terrorism a resounding defeat by celebrating the week long Passover holiday in traditional Israeli style – by traveling in their multitudes to every corner of the country. Some two million Israelis (approximately 30% of the population) chose to spend their Passover vacation week away from home: in national parks, tourist sites, nature reserves, and in massive holiday traffic jams, which became more severe as the week wore on. And with it all, there was a genuinely festive atmosphere at the overcrowded malls, shopping areas and nature sites. The message was clear: terrorists will no longer ruin our holiday celebrations.
Terrorist attempts will continue, some will succeed with tragic results, but they will no longer direct the nation’s emotions. Israel will fight the terrorists and mourn the victims and support the survivors of attacks, but terrorists will not control our daily lives. The world would do well to learn this lesson. Terrorism is about paralyzing life through fear, and a refusal to live normally is a concession of victory to the terrorists.
