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Violence in Israel is a Coordinated Effort to Bring in International Intervention

TruthNews Commentary, April 1, 2001

The past week has seen the worst terrorist attacks against Israel since the current Palestinian uprising began in September. A ten-month-old Israeli girl, Shalhevet Pass, was shot in the head by a Palestinian sniper as she sat in a stroller. Two high school students, 14-year old Naftali Lanzkron and 15-year-old Eliran Rosenberg-Zayat, were killed by a suicide bomber while they waited for a bus. In addition, two bombs were set off in Jerusalem which injured 20 Israelis but killed no one except the suicide bomber.

To some it appeared that the violence was threatening to spin out of control. However, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon showed admirable restraint in responding to the terrorist attacks. Although Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) chief terrorist Yasser Arafat predictably attempted blame Israel for the violence, the attacks appear to be a coordinated effort by Arafat to provoke an Israeli response that would bring about outside intervention in the six-month old conflict.

In the past, the Palestinian attacks have largely been directed at soldiers and Jewish settlers in the occupied territories. However, Israel’s response to the intifada has not been what Arafat had hoped for. Israel has defended its citizens and sealed off the Palestinian areas to minimize terrorism. But, Israel has not re-taken control of the territories from the PLO or conducted indiscriminate attacks. This is what Arafat hoped to provoke by the terrorist attacks last week. Since the previous violence had not produced the desired result, Arafat escalated the violence by attacking Israeli children.

Palestinian actions in the intifada have always been with the purpose of provoking Israeli responses that could be portrayed to the outside world as Israeli aggression. Thus, the media will typically report the violence as, “In six months of fighting, at least 434 people have been killed, including 356 Palestinians, 59 Israeli Jews, and 19 others.” The clear intent is to show that most of the dead from the fighting have been Palestinians. However, the Palestinians are the attackers and the Israelis are the defenders. The Israeli dead are the result of Palestinian terrorist and mob attacks against civilians. The Arab dead are dead terrorists and suicide bombers, plus a few Palestinians whom Arafat executed on accusations of collaborating with Israel. In fact, the PLO has structured attacks to produce as many Palestinian casualties as possible. For example, in some mob attacks, snipers with rifles will be shielded by stone-throwing youths. The Israelis are forced to respond to the snipers, and in the process, some of the stone-throwing youths are killed, resulting in charges that Israel is using machine guns against children with rocks.

The attacks came against the backdrop of two key events which Arafat hoped to influence. The first was the Arab summit held in Amman, Jordan, and the second was a UN Security Council debate on whether to send a UN observer force to Israel.

To date, the Arab support for Arafat has been lukewarm at best. Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein, predictably, has been vocal in supporting the Palestinian uprising. Hussein’s support for Arafat, however, is not based on his love for the Palestinian cause but is rather an attempt to gain support from the Arab “street” by mouthing support for a popular cause. Iran and Syria have been similarly vocal in denouncing Israel but have provided little direct support for Arafat.

Egypt’s dictator, Hosni Mubarak, has provided material support to the intifada. However, Mubarak appears more interested in weakening Israel through low-level violence than in provoking a regional war. Mubarak receives billions in aid from the U.S., which he would forfeit by going to war or even by appearing to be an active supporter of the intifada. In addition, Mubarak was Egypt’s defense minister in the Yom Kippur war in 1973 when Egypt attempted to recapture the Sinai from Israel. Although Egypt initially had some success in the war, Israel soon counterattacked, and UN intervention was required to prevent Egypt’s army from being destroyed.

Arafat believes that if he can provoke Israel to retaliate, the Arab people will rise up in his support and force their rulers to act against Israel. Thus, the despicable level of brutality in this week’s terrorist attacks against Israel in which children were targeted for assassination, was an attempt to provoke retaliation, preferably prior to the end of the Arab summit.

Arafat also hopes to provoke international intervention in Israel similar to the NATO action against Yugoslavia in support of the breakaway Kosovo region. However, it appears that Arafat has given up on attempting to sway the U.S. to his side given President Bush’s unequivocal support for Israel. Now, Arafat appears to be trying to separate Europe from the U.S.

In response to an Arafat request, the UN Security Council debated over sending an observer force to Israel. Israel, understandably, does not see the UN as a neutral party given its history of resolutions against Israel, so the U.S. threatened to veto the action. Russia, China, and the non-aligned countries on the Security Council supported Arafat, while the four EU countries worked to find a compromise acceptable to the U.S. Arafat, however, torpedoed these efforts by demanding a vote prior to the end of the Arab summit. The vote ended with the promised U.S. veto. Arafat hoped to sway the Arab summit to support him while at the same time setting up an international intervention in Israel—notably without the U.S. and presumably led by the EU, Russia, and possibly China.

Israel did not play into Arafat’s scheme. The only overt response came after the Arab summit, and consisted of a helicopter attack on Arafat’s personal bodyguard force, which has also been one of the primary forces behind the terrorist attacks. Israel has also taken a variety of measures to prevent the movement of terrorists, such as sealing off the Palestinian territories, and capturing or killing Palestinian terrorists. While Israel would be fully justified in reasserting control over the Palestinian areas, this could provoke a wider regional confrontation which Israel hopes to avoid.

When Ugandan dictator Idi Amin sent his forces to attack children, his fellow African dictators sent their armies to oust the thug. When Arafat attacks children, his fellow Arab dictators applaud the killer and blame the children.