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This piece was lying around and reading the BooMan – Hurria debate reminded me to pick it up and finish it as a diary. Yes BooMan, the actions of war by Israel in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza are meant as terrorism and should be called as such. The Israelis, through their arrogance and under the US umbrella of impunity, have publicized their actions on many occasions.

No Second Thoughts. The Changes in the Israeli Defense Forces’ Combat Doctrine in Light of “Operation Cast Lead”

Two years later, in the beginning of October 2008, the Commanding Officer of the IDF’s Northern Command, Maj. General Gadi Eisenkot, gave an interview to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, in which he unveiled what he called the “Dahiya Doctrine “:

“What happened in the Dahiye Quarter of Beirut in 2006, will happen in every village from which shots are fired on Israel. We will use disproportionate force against it and we will cause immense damage and destruction. From our point of view these are not civilian villages but military bases.
This is not a recommendation, this is the plan, and it has already been authorized.”

“In the Second Lebanon War we used a great deal of bombs. How else were 120,000 houses destroyed?”
Most devastated was the Dahiye quarter in Beirut, a large Shiite neighbourhood which served as headquarters for the Hezbollah. According to many reports Dahiye was largely destroyed during the war.

Where the Middle East Fights Its Wars

At the same time Eisenkott made this statement, two months before Operation Cast Lead, the Institute for National Security Studies, a think-tank at the Tel Aviv University which reflects the mainstream of Israeli military thinking, published an article by Dr. Gabriel Siboni, a colonel in IDF reserves. The article’s title was: “Disproportionate Force: Israel’s Concept of Response in Light of the Second Lebanon War“. In the article Siboni expresses an identical approach to that of Eisenkot, which he relates in greater detail:

“With an outbreak of hostilities, the IDF will need to act immediately, decisively, and with force that is disproportionate to the enemy’s actions and the threat it poses. Such a response aims at inflicting damage and meting out punishment to an extent that will demand long and expensive reconstruction processes. The strike must be carried out as quickly as possible, and must prioritize damaging assets over seeking out each and every launcher. Punishment must be aimed at decision makers and the power elite… attacks should both aim at Hezbollah’s military capabilities and should target economic interests and the centers of civilian power that support the organization.”

In a subsequent paragraph Siboni makes it clear that:

“This approach is applicable to the Gaza Strip as well. There, the IDF will be required to strike hard at Hamas and to refrain from the cat and mouse games of searching for Qassam rocket launchers. The IDF should not be expected to stop the rocket and missile fire against the Israeli home front through attacks on the launchers themselves, but by means of imposing a ceasefire on the enemy.”

FM Tzipi Livni interview to Channel 10: “IDF demonstrated real hooliganism”

Perhaps the Israeli intentions were best summed up by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who was responsible for the decisions taken during Operation Cast Lead, along with Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. On January 19, 2009, the day after the ceasefire came into effect, in an interview to Channel 10 Livni stated:

“Israel demonstrated real hooliganism during the course of the recent operation, which I demanded.”

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs – Daily Alert

"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

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