Heralding the worsening of relations between Israel and Europe, the European Union is reportedly mulling the passing of sanctions on Israel, including the restriction of marketing Israeli goods and the boycott of goods made by Jews in Judea and Samaria – as punishment for Israel’s decision to develop additional housing in areas Palestinians say should be theirs.

Following the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral request for non-member state status at the United Nations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government announced that Israel would develop land long held by the country – currently labeled E-1 – situated between Jerusalem and the Jewish city of Maale Adumim in the Judean desert.

Europe has decried Israeli development of the land as counter to peace negotiations  European leaders have long touted as the solution to discord between Israelis and Palestinians.  The United Kingdom has threatened to recall its ambassador to Israel.   Britain, France, Spain, Swden, Denmark and Italy all called their Israeli ambassadors in to express their disapproval of Israel’s plans for growth.

President of the military court in the West Bank Colonel Aharon Mishnayot says he will promote an initiative to apply Israeli Penal Law in Judea and Samaria, where military security laws and Jordanian criminal law have been in effect since 1967, Haaretz reports this morning.

Since the Israeli occupation of Judea and Samaria is still considered temporary, the Jordanian penal code is still the law of the land, together with some 1700 military orders that have been added over the years. Nevertheless, court procedure and the rules of evidence are followed as they are in Israel, based on a military order to that effect.

Security laws are by far more stringent in Judea and Samaria than they are in Israel, in order to cope with terrorism-based felonies. For instance, murder is punishable by death in Judea and Samaria (the law was never implemented), compared to life in prison in Israel. Attempted murder gets life imprisonment compared to 20 years in Israel. On the other hand, Jordanian law does not punish a man who rapes his wife. The two codes also differ on the rights of detainees and on detaining and interrogating minors.

Pointing out that Colonel Mishnayot is a resident of Efrat, in Judea, Haaretz reports that recently, as chief of the military courts across the green line, he has been promoting the idea of legal reform that would apply the full Israeli Penal Law in the territories under his jurisdiction.

Mishnayot is careful to emphasize that his aim is not to introduce a de facto annexation of Judea and Samaria, but to put an end to instances of injustice stemming from the differences between the codes which often contradict each. He proposes to use a military decree to impose Israeli law in the “territories,” a factor which would be a barrier before an unwanted slippery slope toward annexation.

Haaretz notes that Israeli law already applies in Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria, and new laws enacted in Israeli are automatically applicable in those areas. Israelis who commit felonies in J&S are tried in Israeli courts according to Israeli law.

Real estate law, on the other hand, is a true legal nightmare currently, being comprised of a seemingly random hodgepodge of Turkish, British, Jordanian, military and Israeli laws, a fact which on occasion is being used by forces hostile to Jewish settlement in the area to annul legal transaction and uproot legal residents.

The IDF spokesman’s office pointed out that the decision on Mishnayot’s proposal will be made in time by those in charge of legal issues in the area.

Here’s an opinion in the New Republic on Ehud Barak’s departure from the defense ministry which…

will have far-reaching implications for Israeli policy. That’s because the man most likely to replace Barak, Strategic Affairs Minister and Vice Prime Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, disagrees with him on two of Israel’s most contentious issues: Iran’s nuclear program and West Bank settlements…

Though Ya’alon supported the 1993 Oslo Accords, in recent years he has shifted right on the Palestinian issue. At a 2009 conference, he called the group Peace Now a “virus” and said—regarding U.S. pressure over settlements—that he was “not afraid of the Americans.” “From my perspective,” he was quoted as saying, “Jews can and need to live in all of the Land of Israel for all eternity.”  Ya’alon elaborated on his thoughts in the Ha’aretz interview with Ari Shavit:

Ya’alon: As long as the other side is not ready to recognize our right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people, I am not ready to forgo a millimeter. I am not even willing to talk about territory. After land-for-peace became land-for-terror and land-for-rockets, I am no longer willing to bury my head in the sand. In the reality of the Middle East what is needed is stability above all. Stability is achieved not by means of imaginary agreements on the White House lawn but by means of defense, by means of a thick stick and a carrot.

Visit My Right Word.

The fire from Gaza has been spreading to Judea and Samaria in recent days, with a steady increase in the number of attacks and violent riots against Jewish civilians and against the security forces. Around 10 PM Monday, Arabs threw several Molotov cocktails at an Egged bus near the community of Adam. Arabs also burned two tires on the road, the Jewish Voice reported.

Earlier, around 6 PM, Arabs threw three Molotov cocktails at the car of a resident of Ma’aleh Levonah, near the village of Sinjil. One Molotov cocktail entered the car and ignited a fire. The driver and a passenger escaped the burning car which rolled down into a canyon and burned to the ground.

The car that was burnt by Molotov cocktail Monday night. Photo: Nadav Kreif, Tazpit news agency.

In demonstrations outside Rachel’s Tomb Arabs threw 73 Molotov cocktails at the tomb’s compound and at the security forces there. Two rioters were seriously injured by a gas grenade that hit their heads, and seven more were injured only lightly from rubber bullets.

During the day the IDF killed two Arabs when they were throwing Molotov cocktails. One was killed near Halhul, while he was throwing a petrol bomb at IDF soldiers. Earlier an Arab was shot and killed while throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Jewish community of Hebron.

In another riot, on the Bir Zeit bridge, north of Ramallah, the IDF shot a terrorist throwing a Molotov cocktail. He sustained injuries in both legs.

During the day, Monday, five Arabs threw Molotov cocktails at a Border Police base in Atarot. Two bottles were ignited inside the base. Near the Jewish village of Ma’aleh Hever, on the southern slope of Mount Hebron, an Israeli bus was pelted with stones. There were no casualties. In northern Samaria, near the community of Hinanit, Arabs threw a Molotov cocktail that did not ignite.

At Noon some 500 Arabs rioted at halhul bridge near Hebron, threw stones at Jewish vehicles and burned tires. Thank God no one was hurt, and IDF forces dispersed the rioters.

Near Camp Ofer, about 100 Arabs tried to cut the fence and were dispersed by IDF forces.

The Tazpit news agency reported that dozens of Arabs from the village of Azzun threw stones at Jewish vehicles and IDF forces and burned tires on Route 55 near the town of Karnei Shomron. A number of Jewish vehicles were damaged, but IDF soldiers tried to fight off the Arabs using only their riot gear.

Despite what appears like an emerging Intifada throughout Judea and Samaria, the IDF spokesman at the Central Command did not report or comment.

The number of fatalities in demonstrations against Operation ” Pillar of Defense” in Judea and Samaria has risen to two. Last night IDF forces shot dead a demonstrator near Hebron, after they said they were attacked by him. Another protester reportedly died of his injuries, after a Palestinian-reported clash with security forces. The Army does not take responsibility for the latter incident and is awaiting the results of an investigation.

Assuming that the term “Pillar of Cloud” wasn’t selected at random by an IDF computer (which does in fact happen sometimes), we have a problem.  I have to hope that the name refers not to a strictly aerial operation, but to aerial bombardment preceding the entry of infantry and armored forces on the ground in Gaza, just as the pillar of cloud and fire preceded the Children of Israel in the wilderness.

If indeed the latter is the true meaning of Operation Pillar of Cloud (the Hebrew name for Operation Pillar of Defense), then it is going to run into opposition from Amram Mitzna and other high-ranking leftist officers, who already this week came out against a ground invasion to put an end to the terrorism.  They claim that the right tool for the job is aerial bombardment—and even that, only so long as it is restrained and limited to very specific targets, as in the assassination of Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari this week.

These are the same people who came out against a ground invasion during the Second Lebanon War, thus ruining that campaign.  Eliminating Hizballah as a military force simply wasn’t on their agenda, and whatever goals they did set were not formulated with any clarity.

The left’s argument is that it is necessary to contain the conflict in order to allow a peaceful resolution, to try to lower the flames and apply low-intensity conflict doctrine.

And what about the ongoing terrorist activity?

One of the leading proponents of this approach, a very senior commander who used to be identified with the right, recently told me that because it is possible today to the dirty work precisely and aerially, there is no need for Israeli control of Judea and Samaria.  The Mossad, he said, has managed to eliminate targets even in distant countries—obviously it can do the same thing in our backyard when necessary.  So, he concluded, there is no problem with establishing a Palestinian state.

The sort of operations you’re describing, I said, are special ops that require significant preparations and investments, not a general military solution for eliminating whole battalions and divisions of terrorists.

He maintained that it is sufficient to eliminate the heads and leave the armies.

Just, and Pragmatic to Boot

Whether we like it or not, the Arabs aren’t stupid.  There are enough of them who are capable of staying in bunkers for extended periods, such as Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who barely leaves his hiding place but manages to run operations against Israel from there.

There have been aerial attacks on specific targets in Gaza in the past, notably the one that eliminated Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.  Yet simply eliminating terrorist commanders isn’t enough.  Every time one senior terrorist is eliminated, he is succeeded by another.  So operations to take out the terrorists are important, but they have to be carried out generally, not specifically.  This not only serves to mete out justice to the murderers, but also is very much a practical necessity, because even with the head of the snake gone, the body keeps killing.

So how is it possible to identify every team of terrorists that sets out to strand a million Israelis in bomb shelters, or to identify all the little rocket launchers in Gaza, without having forces on the ground?

For that matter, without effective control of the territory, how is it possible to gather comprehensive intelligence on the entire hierarchy of murderers in a terrorist organization?

Anyone who aims to make do with targeted attacks, containment, and low-intensity conflict until peace is brought about by negotiations with the terrorists ought to keep in mind that we tried that in Judea and Samaria prior to Operation Defensive Shield, practicing restraint and waiting for a whole year while an unprecedented wave of terrorism engulfed the country.

This brings us to comments made by Colonel Moshe Hagar.  Hagar is not only a senior combat officer who worked on Defensive Shield, but also a great Torah scholar, head of the pre-military academy system, scion of a Chassidic dynasty, whose sharpness comes courtesy of the Torah and of his father Yehoshua, who died this year after finishing a book on the halachot(laws) of war and the redemption of captives.

Hagar argues that Defensive Shield must be brought to Gaza.  He acknowledges, though, that it will be messier and take much longer than in Judea and Samaria.  The delay in acting and the “Disengagement” have given Hamas two decades to build up forces that are more numerous and better equipped than those the IDF fought during Defensive Shield.

Even that was not easy, and the results were not immediate.  It took two years for the IDF to eliminate or arrest the terrorists, confiscate their weapons, and rehabilitate the intelligence infrastructure that had been destroyed when we gave the Palestinians overall security responsibility for the area in the Oslo Accords.

Hagar’s assessment is shared by Treasury Minister Yuval Steinitz.  Even with his familiarity with the difficulties, earned during his tenure as chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset, he has long argued for a long-term ground operation in Gaza.  The minister is a philosopher by training, and as such is not disinclined to voice an unpopular opinion.  For years, since he was head of that committee, even before the revolution in Egypt, he has been arguing that it is necessary to put an end to the present situation on the southern front, including the border with Egypt and the Sinai Desert.

Lieutenant-General Yaakov Amidror, chairman of the National Security Council at the Prime Minister’s Office, says the same thing, but only off the record, due to his position.

Time is not working in our favor.  The longer we wait, the higher the price we will pay.  We need a ground operation, and now.  We need to do what we did in Judea and Samaria.  We need to take back control of Gaza once and for all.

Originally published in Makor Rishon, 16 November 2012. Translated from Hebrew by David B. Greenberg.

Arabs from Isawiya in east Jerusalem rioted near the Har Hatsofim Hospital, on Mt. Scopus. The rioters threw stones at security forces, blocked the road and shot fireworks at the hospital compound. Spokesperson for the Border Police stated that the Border Police on site kept the rioters away, opened the blocked road and responded with crowd dispersal ordnance against the rioters.

Arabs from the village of Jenya blocked the road and threw stones at cars on the road leading to the Talmonim block in the Benyamin region. Cars were damaged. No injuries were reported. The road was later reopened by security forces.

A group of some 20 extreme left activists demonstrated outside a military base near Beit El. Eight of them tried to scale the fence and infiltrate the base. IDF forces dispersed the demonstrators. Those who tried to enter the base forcefully were arrested by the police.

Tazpit News reports that for the past two hours an Arab mob has been rioting outside Rachel’s Tomb in Betlehem.

According to reports there are three Jewish groups under siege inside the structure and the police is ordering them to stay put, for fear of getting hurt.

The Arabs are throwing rocks and firebombs at the compound.

Since this morning, throughout Judea and Samaria, there have been demonstrations and violent marches of thousands of Arabs, to mark the so called “Palestinian Independence Day.” On this day in 1988 a symbolic declaration of independence was made by the late Chairman Yasser Arafat.

The Judea and Samaria rescue center reported that near the community of Efrat in Gush Etzion two Jews were lightly injured by shrapnel when Arabs threw stones at vehicles and one used vehicle was shattered.

Between Beit El and Ofra Arabs blocked route 60 and damaged Jewish owned vehicles. Ariel Koren, whose vehicle was attacked, told the Jewish Voice that he was barely able to escape.

“Dozens of Arabs and leftist anarchists with cameras and flags blocked the road and began to throw stones at my car and beat on it with the poles of their flags,” Koren relayed. “I pressed the gas pedal and managed to pass through, but they smashed the left windshield and broke a mirror.”

A Jewish female motorist driving behind Koren was also attacked with stones.

Hundreds of Arabs marched earlier in the Samaria village of Hawara, armed with flags and drums, in an event that had been approved and secured by the IDF.

The Judea and Samaria rescue center reported this morning that Arabs threw stones at a military post in Beit Omer in Gush Etzion, near the Arab town of Tekoa. dozens of Arabs gathered and threw stones at Jewish owned vehicles, and at the Ne’alim checkpoint hundred of Arabs who arrived in buses rioted and threw stones at the soldiers.

The news agency Ma’an reported other places where protests took place, including Qalqiliya, Jaba village, Halhul, near Ateret, Turmus Iya and in Hebron, where hundreds of Arabs march toward the settlement of Beit Haggai. The Judea and Samaria rescue center reported that IDF forces blocked them at the Al Puwar junction, but meanwhile the same troops blocked the road to Jews.

Arutz 7 reported that Israeli Defense Forces finally managed to restore calm to the area and permit access the site.