Israelis In Shock

By Micah Halpern

Column:

The kidnapping and brutal murder of three teenage boys in Israel by Hamas terrorists has been a devastating experience for Israel and for many Jews around the world. Talk of the boys, well wishes and prayers, worry and concern united all Israelis across the often divisive political, religious, economic and ideological spectrum that is Israel. The mothers of the boys became symbols of strength in the face of unspeakable adversity. Now that the mutilated bodies of three teenage boys have been found, a new chapter emerges.

As devastating as it was, however, the kidnapping has allowed Israel a great advantage in the battle with Hamas. Israel can now take actions, almost without limitations, against Hamas, the enemy that publicly and vociferously swears to destroy them - the people and the state. And Israel will try to destroy Hamas.
Kidnapping civilians, especially school children, is way beyond the pale. It is a violation that can be viewed in only one way -- it is an act of terror.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the Western world did not question Israel's activities against Hamas in their crusade to find the boys. They understood that Israel was taking advantage of the situation and slowly rooting out the infrastructure of Hamas and they understood why.

Israel is not traditionally the recipient of world support for their activities and actions in the region in general and, more specifically, against the Palestinian Authority. And remember, only weeks before the kidnapping the PA and Hamas signed an agreement to form a unity government. So why were things different this time around?

Primarily, because kidnapping boys is taboo. Following that, because despite the veneer of harmony and unity, Hamas is still and always will be a radical Islamic group. Western leaders are seeing and feeling the encroaching dangers of radical Islam in more and more ways and they are powerless to confront it. They see it most strongly in al Qaeda, in Iraq and in Syria. And so far Israel, which bears the brunt of the danger, has exercised great restraint. Even now, in their concerted effort to hunt down and destroy Hamas, they have kept the violence down and even their arrests have been extremely specific and targeted.

It will take time, but everyone responsible for the murders will be found. The process must be slow in order to be methodical. It is an intelligence operation. Israel is getting at Hamas and its organizational structure not just in and around Hebron, where the bodies were found, but in Bethlehem and Ramallah, as well.
Israel has seized hundreds if not thousands of computers from Hamas.

And in those computers resides the infrastructure of the organization. The unity government brought Hamas out into the open in the West Bank. And that meant that they dropped their guard concerning the secrecy of their organization. It is all in their computers. And now those hard drives and contacts are being used to track down senior and less senior members of the terrorist organization. The web of groups is being dismantled.
And with that will come the continued capture and arrest of Hamas members.

In response, Hamas has once again pledged 'to rain down hell on Israel,' according to their spokesman Sami Abu Zurhi. But the Israeli government is not the only government that Hamas wants to bring down and destroy.

Hamas has an objective. Hamas has already set its machinery in motion to topple its new unity partner, the PA, and conquer the hearts and minds of the youth of the West Bank. They want to take over the West Bank and oust the Palestinian Authority.

Israel is not destroying Hamas to support Abbas. Not at all ... although that is a byproduct of Israel's actions. They are striking down Hamas to better secure Israel. Abbas has known all along that Hamas was behind the kidnappings, but publicly, he was asking for proof. TV stations within the Palestinian Authority did not cover the news that the boys' were bodies were discovered. Palestinians watched that on Al Jazeera.

The vision Hamas has of one day usurping control of the West Bank from Fatah and the Palestinian Authority slips further and further away with every passing day as they continue to be squeezed by Israel.
Israel will stop only when their objective has been achieved.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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