Weekly Commentary: Mr. Netanyahu - Reject Quiet For Quiet In North
Dr. Aaron Lerner 5 June 2024

"Whoever thinks that he will hurt us and we will sit idly by is making a big
mistake. We are prepared for a very strong action in the north. One way or
another we will restore security to the north."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu 5 June 2024

And here's the mistake:

The goal in the north is not to restore security to the north.

The goal is to restore security to the country.

When Netanyahu talks of restoring security to the north "one way or another"
the "other way" is a form of "quiet for quiet" In the north.

This when hundreds of thousands of missiles are still threatening to hit
many strategic places in the heart of the country.

Yes, there is talk of the creation of some kind of neutralized zone north of
Israel in exchange for territorial concessions in a "quiet for quiet" deal.

But even the most optimistic description of such a zone doesn't have it
reaching the areas in Lebanon where Hezbollah has deployed the mid-range and
long-range guided missiles which threaten strategic Israeli targets
throughout the country.

"Quiet for quiet" is the fatal policy which brought us to the challenges we
now are struggling with.

There should be no place for "quiet for quiet" as a program for the north
today.

A technical detail: the resources we will use to destroy the guided missiles
are either not used at all (F-35's) or barely used (other jets) in the Gaza
Strip.

And for those who want to continue kicking the Hezbollah guided missile
threat can down the road:

Our massively escalated tit for tat provides a context for an operation
which destroys the guided missiles despite the fact that these missiles are
deployed in urban areas = Lebanese human shields will definitely die in the
operation.

If we fail to act in this window we will never have the opportunity for a
pre-emptive strike.

Instead we would ultimately have an Israeli operation against the guided
missiles at a time chosen by Hezbollah.

An Israeli operation launched only AFTER Hezbollah is already pounding us
with guided missiles.

_______________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on
Arab-Israeli relations

Website: www.imra.org.il