It wasn't necessarily a mistake to withdraw. Israel had to, has to, do three things. Choose a line she is prepared to defend. She did that. Secondly, get her people on the safe side of that line, and she did that also.
Now she has to push that line forward, in response to every violation of that line. That third step is absolutely vital. Every attack has to be answered by exacting a price in territory.
Killing your attackers is necessary but ultimately futile, since the arabs have an endless supply of cannon fodder and care nothing about lives damaged or lost. Only land matters to them, so that is the only retaliation that means anything. Every mortar shell, every rocket, every deluded teenager who gets across the line has to be answered by moving the line forward half a kilometer. Any arab residence affected by moving the line should be paid for in cash and bulldozed, and its inhabitants pushed to the far side of the new line.
Israel should never allow itself to be put back in the business of managing arabs. They should be kept on the far side of the line, with the line sealed, and the previous "land for peace" policy with the one-way ratchet has to be reversed. Israel's new policy should be "land for peace" with a one-way ratchet, ratcheting toward Cairo. And Amman. And Damascus. Every attack costs half a kilometer permanently.
Taking Arab occupied land is ultimately self-defeating for Israel if they want to remain a Jewish state and a democracy. If they become an empire with a minority of Jews holding power over a majority of Arabs, they lose. If they try to absorb the Arabs they control into a democratic state, they lose. The only way for Isreal to take Arab land is to evict the Arabs who live there, which the international community (meaning the USA) would consider politically unacceptable. That's what Sharon realized, and why he withdrew from Gaza.
The answer it seems to me is to counter-fire against wherever rockets are launched from, colateral damage or not. Also to retaliate against the Palstinian Authority on a massive scale.
I like the way you think!
Good analysis. I think this was Sharon's ultimate plan. He needed time to show the world that the palimonsters were impossible to negotiate with. I think at some point they will reclaim land. But I think the ultimate goal was to create a true Palestine state so they could have someone to go to war with over obvious continued Acts of War by these idiots.
Your analysis is correct but your solution is premature, IMO.
The Palis need more time to get their act together ---- or else! It is too soon for the or else, which was part of the original plan. Give them what they claim they want, their own state, even if it is a lie. That has been done. Now it is up to them to live in peace as a state or to admit the lie and die.
More time is necessary for the or else to be acceptable.
"Every attack costs half a kilometer permanently."
What a elegantly simple solution. Thank you for sharing it.
Soon after it was clear that your idea was going to be acted upon, if an Arab took his explosive belt out the door, the locals would deal with him.
Super idea!