From Dan Kohn, Kibbitz Adamit
The present situation is, to say the least, unsatisfactory. Israelis living in the north have no more security than they had two months ago. Two kidnapped soldiers have not been returned. These are the unattained objectives of the recent conflict. Israel spent over a month to achieve next to nothing. Hizballah has suffered setbacks and lost manpower and defenses but I wager that relatively, Israel's losses are heavier for its citizens. Hizballah will regroup, rearm and resurge to imminence in southern Lebanon. At the present time we have a ceasefire agreement that both sides seem to be following. It would appear that that the cease fire is necessary to both sides. The Israeli government, in its wisdom has ceased hostilities. The question is why? One reason is for the people living in shelters. The hostilities should not have lasted over a month. The war was unplanned and Israel was unprepared. It was unplanned though Israel has been preparing for this war for the last six years. Israel's government was unprepared to support its citizens living in shelters for over a month, even though it had been stated more than once that, “the next war will be waged upon civilians”. It was known that Hizballah had thousands of missiles. Did Israel's generals believe they could prevent the firing of missiles into Israel? I believe that the majority of Israeli citizens would have accepted continuing the fight till Israel could persevere. Why the decision to stop before anything was accomplished, before any objectives were reached? I am guessing and I am hoping that within a short period of time Israel may have a method of defeating Hizballah's Katusha rockets in the air. The army can utilize the time provided by the ceasefire to better prepare its soldiers and maybe the government can develop a plan to assist civilians that are forced to live in shelters. Regardless of the accuracy of my second-guessing Israel's leadership, I hope that the time of the ceasefire will be utilized efficiently and lessons will be learned both by the government and the Israel Defense Force. It is true that our Chief of Staff, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense are all new in their positions. I'm simply saying that they are new to their responsibilities and have had to deal with a war in their first months in office. The previous Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, is in a coma and news about his medical situation is not promising. There is a cynical joke being told. Sharon wakes up and the doctor informs him, “Mr. Sharon, you have been unconscious for a long time and you are no longer Prime Minister”. Sharon replies, “So, who is the new Prime Minister?” The doctor answers, “Ehud Olmert” Sharon in disbelief says, “Nu! Tell me who is Really Prime Minister?” The doctor answers, “It is really Ehud Olmert but you'll never guess who is Minister of Defense!” We have a defense minister without a military background that has held the position for only a few months. The new Chief of Staff has a distinguished career in the air force but is not a leader of ground troops. This might explain why the first two weeks of the conflict were only air attacks and troops were put in too late and too few to succeed. In the meantime, the civilians in Northern Israel were left to persevere the best they could with the help of volunteers. The problems are behind us. The recent confrontation has been a trial run. Can we prepare for the next unavoidable conflict with Lebanon (Lebanon not Hizballah because there is no way to separate the two) and finally win the war? The citizens living in Northern Israel deserve to live in security and so do people in Southern Lebanon. I desire peace but I know that the Hizballah is an extremely strong army, well funded, well trained and motivated. I know Hizballah's platform and their reason for existence, their raison d'etre. I believe Hizballah to be something that must be eliminated like Fascism in the 1930's. As Fascism should have been combated in the 30's so should Hizballah's existence end now and not later.
Dan Kohn, Kibbutz Adamit, 8/17/2006