Let No One Say He Didn't Know...

By Hillel Fendel, edited by Dena Udren

Dr. Guy Bechor, political commentator on Middle East affairs and editor of the Gplanet.co.il website, warns that renewed talk of "disengagement" – or any other term that means Israel's withdrawal from territories in favor of an Arab entity – means Arab missiles and rockets on Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ben Gurion International Airport, and elsewhere in Israel. 

"Let no one say that he didn't know," Bechor warned the hosts of a Channel 13 TV program on current events last week. "This is what will happen, whether it be immediately, or within a year or two – after Hamas takes over from Mahmoud Abbas."

"The fact that we have quiet now, and that buses are not exploding – is not something self-evident," Bechor emphasized. "Every single night, our IDF forces are busy acting deep inside the PA-controlled areas, in order to thwart terrorist initiatives and ensure that there be no rockets, exploding buses, and other attacks. Your reporter who just now said that the purpose of these activities is to ensure quiet in Judea and Samaria is mistaken; the purpose is to ensure quiet in the entire State of Israel!"

Regarding recent calls for a withdrawal from parts of Judea and Samaria, Bechor said that just as the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 led to rockets on Ashkelon and Ashdod, "a similar withdrawal from within Judea and Samaria would lead to rockets on central Israel, as well as Haifa, Jerusalem, and other areas."

Mark Langfan, Chairman of AFSI (Americans for a Safe Israel), could not agree more. A Florida-based real estate executive who writes frequently on security issues confronting Israel and other Middle Eastern affairs, he created a 3D topographic map system of Israel showing clearly the dangers of a withdrawal from what some call the West Bank. He emphasizes that not only would Israel be endangered – but actually, the entire Western world. "If Israel is replaced by a PA state," he has often explained, "Jordan would no longer be safe, Lebanon would be taken over by Iran-Hizbullah, and even Saudi Arabia would be endangered. From there, Cyprus would be an easy grab, etc. etc."

Upset that elements in Israel and elsewhere continue to call for a withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, Langfan reminds us that Israel's enemies could easily take advantage of a "demilitarized" Palestinian state given the easily-transportable weapons available to them. For instance, the Katyusha Rocket "Multiple Rocket Launcher" BM-21 can be easily dismantled and smuggled into areas not controlled by Israel. The next step is downright scary: "These rockets have a range of 12.7 miles. Individual Katyushas can be launched from a pipe with just a car battery. Katyushas can easily carry chemical warheads. And because they are so easily transportable – easily smuggled through IDF roadblocks in private cars and even suitcases – it would be impossible to prevent their influx.  This means that any small, independent terrorist cell could at whim shut down Israel's airways, with makeshift launchers on any hillside in Samaria overlooking the Greater Tel Aviv area." 

Back to Dr. Bechor, who wished to correct a published mis-impression that he once favored the retreat from Gaza: "What happened was that once I saw that it was a done deal and that the withdrawal could not be stopped, I favored not doing so unilaterally, but making sure that the Arabs gave us something in place of communities that we would be leaving them. I spoke to then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about this, and advised him to make sure the PA gives us something in return – and he said he would… In the end, of course, he didn't. I later gave an interview to a local Ashdod newspaper, and predicted that there would be rockets on Ashdod – and there were… The same thing will happen in central Israel if we leave parts of Judea and Samaria. No one will be able to say he didn't know."