Monday, January 05, 2009

Israel's President speaks

Yesterday, we saw our soldiers with their heavy bags, carrying on their backs not just their gear, but the entire history of our people. We saw the commanders, with their night vision binoculars, looking forward, towards the future.

We are not a people who desires war. We are not an aggressive people. We do not aim to destroy the Arabs, but to bring peace. We say that the government was in grave doubt about this decision – it was because they feared doing an injustice. It is very important enough that the cause of our war be just.

Even today the government maintains a moderate tongue. We do not wish to destroy Gaza or even destroy Hamas. We only want the terror to end. When I look at the children of the Palestinians, my heart bleeds. They are being used as weapons, and we have no desire to hurt them or any other innocents. I am proud of the soldiers and commanders who have planned this operation. Operation Cast Lead is a justified and just action, aimed at hurting the Hamas, improving the Army's capacity for deterrence and achieving a long-term stable situation in Gaza and the surrounding area.

Some say that our reaction is disproportional. I ask: what is proportional? Should we only stop part of the rockets? The proper balance is between avoiding harm to innocents and making sure that the extremist maniacs realize that they have no chance, and ensuring they pay a heavy price for their actions.

We can't know how long the operation will go on. Nothing in life is perfect, and nothing is final. We are a small, democratic, fair and peaceloving nation. We feel this war is necessary and just. If we win it, then peace shall be our victory.

Shimon Peres, President of Israel, talking to schoolchildren in the South of Israel

My thoughts:

1. It seems to me that he's not really addressing the schoolkids, he's addressing the media present.
2. It also seems that he is already preparing the public for the idea that the Army will probably start short of ending the rocket fire completely. That is.... words cannot express my feeling regarding how pathetic this is. But that said, Peres is a Kadima member. Fail is their profession.
3. As this progresses, I am getting more and more the feeling that Israel will quit on this before getting a real achievement, and go home, probably because of international pressure. Hamas will declare victory.
4. The above is an optimist prediction. The pessimist prediction is that Hamas does something 'successful' – kidnaps another soldier, blows up an APC full of troops, or maybe hits a schoolbus with their rockets, and THEN Israel will leave. This will essentially be a Hamas victory, no matter what casualties we inflict on them. It'll be like the Tet Offensive, reproduced on a miniature, retarded Middle-Eastern Scale.

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