JERUSALEM -- In October 1993, the United States was in a tense situation. An attempt to kidnap Somali warlord Mohamed Aideed and bring him to justice resulted in bloodshed, with an American helicopter pilot, Mike Durant, taken prisoner. Special U.S. envoy, Robert Oakley, was sent to Mogadishu to demand that Durant be released without any conditions. Aideed's lieutenants demanded in exchange the release of Somalis who were held by the United States. Oakley told them flatly that they must release Durant. Period. In a CNN broadcast in 2002, he recalled how he had warned them that if they didn't, the United States would respond with great fury.
"By the time the shooting is over, given the tanks and the aircraft carrier with aircraft and the gunships and everything else that's going to be here, there won't be anything left in south Mogadishu. Cats, dogs, goats, people, women, children, you name it -- everything is going to be gone because the amount of firepower is so great and the amount of hatred and anger behind it is so great. So don't create this sort of a situation. I beg of you."
Durant was released unconditionally.
Israel is not a mighty superpower like the United States, and the world is usually less tolerant of Israel's self-defensive measures. Yet, there are some principles that any self-respecting people should stand up and fight for, regardless of what others are saying. By fighting terror in Gaza and by hitting targets in Lebanon, Israel is now doing just that.
For decades the world has been pushing Israel to pull out of the West Bank and Gaza -- territories taken in the Six Day War, a pure Arab aggression. Recently, Israel evacuated Gaza and signaled its intention of doing the same in parts of the West Bank. The Palestinians, who kept moaning about the Israeli occupation, didn't grab the opportunity to rebuild Gaza and make it the foundation of the future Palestinian state. Instead, they started shelling the south of Israel with Kassam rockets and recently attacked a military position in Israel proper, killing two soldiers and kidnapping one, Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Now his Hammas captors are making demands on Israel in return for his release.
In the north of Israel, something similar happened. In 1982 Israel entered Lebanon to put an end to the harassment of its northern region by Palestinian terrorists who were operating from the neighboring country. Ever since, the world has been pressuring Israel to get out, and in 2000 it did. Complying with U.N. Security Council resolution 415, Israel pulled back to the international border.
The Lebanese government was supposed to reassert its authority in the southern area of its country and disarm the Hezbollah. Instead, the Hezbollah doubled in power and amassed thousands of long-range Katyusha rockets aimed at Israel. This week, with no excuse whatsoever, the Hezbollah attacked Israeli civilian communities, killed several soldiers and kidnapped two. Now Hassan Nasralla, the leader of Hezbollah, is making demands on Israel.
Want to play hard ball?
What should Israel do? In the past, it exchanged prisoners for kidnapped soldiers and civilians, and even for bodies. Many felt that this was a mistake, which bred only more appetite among our enemies. But there is a difference: In the past, Israel was deployed in Gaza and southern Lebanon; today, Israel is out. Kidnapping its soldiers is a pure and unprovoked act of war. And we are not talking Mogadishu here; we are talking about home.
By hitting back, Israel is not only exercising its right of self-defense; it is also restoring some law and order in this area, reminding the hooligans of the region that they just can't spread havoc and get away with it.
Some people here in the Middle East want to play hard ball with Israel? We're game.
This article was first published in The Miami Herald on July 14, 2006.
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The opinions expressed herein are the author's own personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of the Israel Democracy Institute.