Yoav Limor
JNS, Aug. 7, 2022
“… as the hits on the organization’s members increase PIJ will be forced to recalculate, after also failing to impose a new equation of deterrence creating a linkage between arrests in Judea and Samaria and threats from Gaza.”
Israel may have registered a long list of successes so far in “Operation Breaking Dawn,” but the main challenge still lies ahead: To end the fighting as soon as possible without Hamas joining in, and to create an extended period of deterrence vis-à-vis Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
As always, the opening move has a great impact on the rest of the game. Israel prepared its opening move for several days, waiting for the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) to provide precision intelligence that would enable the targeted killing of the leader of PIJ in the northern Gaza Strip, Taysar Jaabari — the dominant figure in the organization’s military wing and the person responsible for the recent escalation. During this waiting period, the IDF tightened defenses around the Gaza Strip and beyond by positioning Iron Dome batteries in several locations, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and airing operational plans for the possibility of narrow or broad escalation.
These preparations came at a cost in public opinion and criticism of the political and security leadership. However, possessing a view of the entire board, the leadership chose to pay that cost; quite a few politicians and journalists will now have to eat their hats. The same elements that attacked Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz for holding back on taking action in Gaza because of politics and electioneering were quick off the mark to attack them for operating in Gaza for the same reasons — politics and electioneering.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu did the right thing when he announced that he would attend a private security briefing by the prime minister today. Had he done so earlier, perhaps he could have spared some of his supporters embarrassment for publishing criticism of the government, which is of course legitimate and welcome but should preferably be based on reality.