Israel hits not to be defeated

After the assassination of HAMAS leader Akhmed Yassin Israeli police as put on alert not in vain.

HAMAS supporters came out on the streets, and the slogan “Death to Jews!” is one of the gentlest ones they are shouting. HAMAS militants shouted nothing, they only promised to revenge for the death of their leader shortly.

The assassination of Sheikh Yassin can also cause demonstrations in Europe. European Arabs may be willing to express their solidarity with Palestinians.

All this leads to the question: for what purpose was Yassin killed? Yes, he was one of the spiritual leaders for terror, and his calls provoked terrorists to act. However, assassinating HAMAS leader does not reduce the probability of terrorist attacks in Israel. On the contrary, the tension is escalating. Ariel Sharon who supervised the operation on assassinating Yassin, understands this.

The logic ‘‘everybody guilty of terrorist act against Israel is to be killed” can be understood. However, previously Israel tried not to apply this principle to avoid new terrorist attacks. Assasinating Yassin may be a part of complex combination.

Firstly, HAMAS has faced some problems. This organization has lost many of its leaders, and most importantly – much funds. Organizing big terrorist attack will require all the resources of HAMAS. If this attack fails, Palestinian people and sponsors will stop trusting HAMAS. In addition, Sharon has gained the opportunity to start implementing his plan on separating Palestine from Israel. He has a good excuse for this – the need of safeguarding Israelis from revenge. In any case, Israeli authorities are holding the initiative and having serious tactical advantage over terrorists.

For Russians the issue of the correct method to fight terrorism is of primary importance. We realized that assassinating the leaders of terrorist can contribute to mitigating this evil, but not to eradicating it. Israeli experience has demonstrated: new leaders emerge, and terrorist acts continue. The combination of Sharon can result in some success, but there is big risk that instead of victory over terrorism it can produce opposite result. Nevertheless, those not taking risk in fighting terrorism, will be defeated.

Alexander Protopopov