Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Israel United against Hamas


Israel Responds to Gaza Border Bombing with Air Attack

An Israeli military aircraft struck smugglers' tunnels in Gaza [today]...
[UPI]


Gaza War Unites Israelis -Tobias Buck

Officials and analysts say they have been surprised by the degree of Israel's national unity and sense of common purpose during the Gaza war.

The change in attitude is palpable. Polls show the overwhelming majority of Israelis backed the war, which they saw as a just assault on an implacable and dangerous enemy. Yossi Klein Halevy, a fellow at the Jerusalem-based Shalem Center, notes: "The soldiers fought with more motivation than at any time since the 1973 Yom Kippur war, the home front bore up with weeks of shelling without complaint, and the country was unified. Even most of the Israeli left supported the operation."

The lesson that Israelis take away from three weeks of war is one that has echoed throughout the country's history: that being strong is preferable to being popular.
(Financial Times-UK)


IDF: Hamas Is Responsible -Hanan Greenberg

The attack on an IDF force patrolling the Gaza border was carried out by an Islamist group affiliated with al-Qaeda calling itself the "Jihad and Tawhid Brigades." An IDF Bedouin tracker was the soldier killed.

The army says Hamas gave its consent to the attack. Military sources estimate that Hamas will continue to operate against Israel through other organizations. Senior Israeli officials said Tuesday that they have no intention of playing along with Hamas' scheme to evade responsibility.
(Ynet News)


Secretary of State Clinton: "We Support Israel"

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [pictured at the Western Wall] said that Israel had a right to defend itself and that Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza on the Jewish state could not go unanswered.

"We support Israel's right to self-defense. The (Palestinian) rocket barrages which are getting closer and closer to populated areas (in Israel) cannot go unanswered," Clinton said in her first news conference. "
(Reuters)

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