With news today that a wing of Hamas has ended the 5 month truce with Israel, the rumblings of a possible outbreak of war are back on the agenda. Israel has over the last days been killing Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. One cannot be left with an impression that as soon as there is talk of peace, Israel goes out and does "something" in the West Bank or Gaza which will inflame tensions and bring any even remote prospects for some sort of peace-arrangement to an end.
Lest the above thought we considered a radical proposition, let Orit Shohat "speak" in his piece in Haaretz:
"The talk about a sizable war this summer already started in the midst of the war last summer (there were those who called it a promo and thanked Hezbollah for having revealed its weaknesses in ample time). A "sizable war" is a code name for a war that includes Syria. The outgoing chief of staff estimated in November that there would be a war with Syria this summer, and in a series of general-staff discussions he held, there was talk of "a working assessment" that dictated exercises in anticipation of a war this summer.
Now the summer is almost upon us. Was this an assessment or a self-fulfilling prophecy? When the Syrian president says that if there is no peace there will be a war, he is responding to incessant mumbling from our side. This is where the dynamics of another war start. In a situation as explosive as that in the Middle East, the sparks can be ignited even when no one really wants that to happen.
Too many people sit in too many rooms with war maps rather than maps with peace arrangements. There are new plans with new code names. There are colorful computer presentations, and in place of every division commander who has lost face, there is another glowing radiantly for the moment with an updated military doctrine that will provide "the answer," as they say in the army, to problems revealed in the previous war. Instead of a chief of staff who relies only on the air force, we now have a chief of staff from the Golani Brigade. It can be assumed that he is fervently training regular and reserve forces for the next round after reading all the debriefings and learning the necessary lessons."
And:
"Something very, very strange has been happening since last summer. Several months have elapsed since the last war, and it appears that it did not end, but rather just stopped for a minute. We will merely read the Winograd Committee's report and then continue. Meanwhile, rumblings are being heard, from Pakistan to Syria and Saudi Arabia, about the possibility of political arrangements. But we are still talking about Gal Hirsch and Udi Adam, and about who is more guilty for not implementing the ground forces invasion plan."
Lest the above thought we considered a radical proposition, let Orit Shohat "speak" in his piece in Haaretz:
"The talk about a sizable war this summer already started in the midst of the war last summer (there were those who called it a promo and thanked Hezbollah for having revealed its weaknesses in ample time). A "sizable war" is a code name for a war that includes Syria. The outgoing chief of staff estimated in November that there would be a war with Syria this summer, and in a series of general-staff discussions he held, there was talk of "a working assessment" that dictated exercises in anticipation of a war this summer.
Now the summer is almost upon us. Was this an assessment or a self-fulfilling prophecy? When the Syrian president says that if there is no peace there will be a war, he is responding to incessant mumbling from our side. This is where the dynamics of another war start. In a situation as explosive as that in the Middle East, the sparks can be ignited even when no one really wants that to happen.
Too many people sit in too many rooms with war maps rather than maps with peace arrangements. There are new plans with new code names. There are colorful computer presentations, and in place of every division commander who has lost face, there is another glowing radiantly for the moment with an updated military doctrine that will provide "the answer," as they say in the army, to problems revealed in the previous war. Instead of a chief of staff who relies only on the air force, we now have a chief of staff from the Golani Brigade. It can be assumed that he is fervently training regular and reserve forces for the next round after reading all the debriefings and learning the necessary lessons."
And:
"Something very, very strange has been happening since last summer. Several months have elapsed since the last war, and it appears that it did not end, but rather just stopped for a minute. We will merely read the Winograd Committee's report and then continue. Meanwhile, rumblings are being heard, from Pakistan to Syria and Saudi Arabia, about the possibility of political arrangements. But we are still talking about Gal Hirsch and Udi Adam, and about who is more guilty for not implementing the ground forces invasion plan."
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