Timing Is Everything

The London Times has an interesting story about how, apparently, the European negotiations with the Palestinians were within hours of producing a ceasefire when the bizarre and shocking F16 rocket attack on a Palestinian apartment block killed several children, several civilians, and a Hamas operative, and derailed the peace negotiations. Now, of course it’s alwayys easier to say in hindsight that “Hey, we were just about to turn lead into gold until you bozos junxed it” but still, the timing and execution of this unusually savage attack should give anyone pause who understands how realpolitik operates in the Middle East. Suicide bombs and indiscriminate rocket attacks against crowded apartment blocks are, to me, morally indistinguishable in their disregard for human life and their blatant savagery.

The current phase of suicide bombings was initiated by two provocative assassinations of Hamas leaders by Israeli forces during lulls in the fighting: Mahmoud Abu Hanoud last November and Bakar Hamdan last January. The behaviour of Hamas is actually pretty predictable and you can rely on them to follow up any attacks on them with a spot of ultraviolence — to do otherwise would mean them ceding the “moral” leadership of the violent section of the Palestinian movement. The dogs in the street know this and so do the shadowy bureaucrats and spymasters in the Israeli government that authorize these targeted killings.

Interesting, and sadly, I was doing some checking on Hanoud and I found this interesting titbit – Hanoud was imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority until a botched Israeli assassination attempt using F16s failed last year, freeing him and killing nearly a dozen Palestinian police officers.

Castro Salameh, the Palestinian commander of the Nablus post, told the Times, “Abu Hanoud has been my charge for nine months, and I have kept him under lock and key… But now Israel has liberated him. I have absolutely no idea where he has gone to.”

Sharon is a master of timing. I am still impressed by the impeccable slaughter last January of Elie Hobeika, a key witness for the prosecution who was due to give testimony concerning his first-hand knowledge of Sharon’s direct role in authorisation of the Sabra and Shatilla massacre.

So, the spymasters free the militants, let them dangle for a while, then rub them out. It really is like James Bond, but without the cool gadgets. Meanwhile, ordinary people die.

Earlier here.