Arabs See Strategic Motives In Israeli Attacks
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Courtesy Of: United Press International
By Sana Abdallah
Wed., July 5, 2006
UPI.com


Israeli Military To Employ "All Means At Disposal"
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Amman, Jordan-


...The Israeli military said it will "continue to employ all means at its disposal" against Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to allow the unconditional return of Shalit. And Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet Sunday all military means will be used.

Having refused to negotiate the soldier's release and turning down the captor's demands for Israel to release 1,000 Palestinian women and children prisoners in return for information on 19-year Shalit, Israel has opted to resort to its military power instead.

Arab analysts say the relentless bombardment of vital Palestinian installations, as well as the Israeli abduction and arrest of eight Palestinian Hamas government Ministers and 20 Legislators, may not be so much aimed at intimidating the Palestinians into releasing the Israeli soldier unharmed, but to further weaken the Palestinians and their Hamas-led government.

They say Israel is trying to avenge the painful humiliation it suffered with the successful capture of the Israeli soldier, who was snatched from a border army post after Palestinian fighters killed two other soldiers. Three Palestinian groups claimed responsibility for the operation in which two of the attackers were also killed.

...Arab commentators say Israel is using the kidnapped soldier, in addition to exploiting U.S. support, international indifference and the usual Arab impotence, to see how far it can go in breaking the Hamas leadership, which it blames for the soldiers kidnapping and the launching of locally-made rockets into neighboring Israeli towns near Gaza.


Apparent Objective To Weaken, Not Destroy
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They insist the capture of Shalit provided yet another opportunity, or pretext, for Israel to punish Hamas and even the Palestinian people for having voted the group into office in last January's legislative elections.

Months after the West cut off financial assistance to the Palestinians and Israel refused to hand over millions of dollars of Palestinian Tax Revenues, leaving thousands of families without an income, accompanied by political campaigns and Israeli military strikes on Gaza that killed dozens of Palestinian civilians, the Hamas government refused to meet Western demands to recognize Israel...

Arab pundits say Israel has ulterior motives in its military assault following the abduction of the Israeli soldier, which they describe as a legitimate resistance operation against occupation.

They say Israel will fall short of re-capturing the Gaza Strip because its forces and settlers withdrew from the area last year as part of a greater unilateral plan to pull out from parts of Palestinian Territories, annexing other parts and drawing up its own borders without negotiating a final peace settlement.

These analysts believe Tel Aviv will not abandon its agenda of a unilateral withdrawal to save one of its soldiers, saying that if it was interested in saving him, it would consider a prisoner-swap and free the 1,000 Palestinian women and children prisoners.

They also believe that Israel would rather weaken, rather than destroy, Hamas; thus its tactic in capturing and arresting Hamas government and Parliament officials and bombing the Prime Ministry after midnight when Hamas political officials will unlikely be mortally harmed.

The analysts argue Hamas' presence in power and its position give the Israelis the excuse not to negotiate a peaceful settlement that will lead to a Palestinian State, adding Hamas is also providing Israel with Western support to continue its military assault in its so-called attempt to "fight terrorism."

Therefore, they say, it is in Israel's interest to keep Hamas in power and keep its militants within firing range for target practice.


Hamas Document Recognizes Israel
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It may be no coincidence that the Israeli war machine was pounding Palesitian sites in Gaza as Palestinian faction leaders, including Hamas, agreed on the "Prisoners Document," which contains a tacit recognition of the Jewish state and negotiating with it.

Hamas' approval of the document paves the way for forming a new national unity government, but the development was overshadowed by the crisis of the kidnapped soldier.

A new national unity government, Palestinian experts say, is something the Israeli government dreades as it would pull the rug from under its feet and obstruct its agenda.

It may also be no coincidence that other so-called "rogue states" are being pulled into the crisis of the captured soldier, as Israel, with American help, tries to mix the cards by pinning Syria to the ongoing conflict.

...U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton, a close ally, put a spin on the Palestinian-Israeli crisis during a U.N. discussion on the issue as Arab States tried to grab an international condemnation of Israel for its military assault on the Palestinians.

Arabs were once again disheartened when Israel found its U.S. ally ready to support its measures, no matter how extreme or dangerous in sparking yet another Middle East War.

Arab diplomats in Amman privately complained that instead of condemning Israel for its "Extreme Measures" and "Provocative Flight" over the Syrian President's home, Bolton pointed the finger at Syria...

But Arab analysts saw no surprise in Washington's position in the U.N., noting that since Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the United States has Veoted 32 Security Council Resolutions critical of Israel, more than the number of Vetoes cast by the other four Permanent Council members put together.