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A Safer Year in Israel Adds Joy to Rehovot Hanukkah
To celebrate the sixth day of Hanukkah, or Festival of Lights, Jews of Rehovot lit today sixth Hanukkah candle, as presented below on three video clips by www.Rehovot.tv .
Video 1 (Rehovot.tv archive file 2621 9-12-2007@17:01)
It is the kind of milestone that many Israelis, for fear of jinxing it, are reluctant to acknowledge. The year 2007 is on track to become the safest year in Israel since before the second Palestinian uprising more than seven years ago. There has been only one suicide bombing in Israel this year, a bumbled attack in January that killed three people in the Red Sea resort of Eilat.
A Palestinian shift to rocket and mortar attacks has proved largely ineffective: Only two Israelis have died this year from more than 2,000 Qassam rockets and mortars. Because rockets fired from the Gaza Strip cannot reach Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, the political impact of the near-daily strikes has been muted.
Video 2 (Rehovot.tv archive file 2622 9-12-2007@17:01)
“The suicide attacks were more frightening because they affected everyone in Israel everywhere,” said Ely Karmon, from the Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Israel. “Everyone felt threatened. It was in public places, in restaurants, in malls. It was in all the buses and trains. It was clearly a more important strategic weapon.”
The virtual halt to successful suicide bombings can be chalked up to several factors: Israel has developed a successful intelligence network that relies on information from Palestinian insiders and electronic surveillance to keep tabs on militants trying to sneak into Israel to carry out attacks. Israel’s ever-expanding network of modern checkpoints, concrete walls and electronic fencing running through the West Bank has made it more difficult for potential suicide bombers. Hamas, the main Palestinian group behind the suicide bombing campaign, has largely held to its vow to maintain a temporary truce as it has tried to exert its influence through the political process.
Video 3 (Rehovot.tv Archive file 2638 9-12-2007@17:16)
“Part of the appeal of suicide bombings was that they were successful,” said Yoram Schweitzer, who has done extensive research on Palestinian suicide bombings at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies. “Now ... every time they’ve tried, they suffered backlash.”
Source: Dion Nissenbaum and Cliff Churgin. A safer year in Israel adds joy to Hanukkah. McClatchy Newspapers (9 December 2007) [FullText]
Video 1 (Rehovot.tv archive file 2621 9-12-2007@17:01)
It is the kind of milestone that many Israelis, for fear of jinxing it, are reluctant to acknowledge. The year 2007 is on track to become the safest year in Israel since before the second Palestinian uprising more than seven years ago. There has been only one suicide bombing in Israel this year, a bumbled attack in January that killed three people in the Red Sea resort of Eilat.
A Palestinian shift to rocket and mortar attacks has proved largely ineffective: Only two Israelis have died this year from more than 2,000 Qassam rockets and mortars. Because rockets fired from the Gaza Strip cannot reach Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, the political impact of the near-daily strikes has been muted.
Video 2 (Rehovot.tv archive file 2622 9-12-2007@17:01)
“The suicide attacks were more frightening because they affected everyone in Israel everywhere,” said Ely Karmon, from the Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Israel. “Everyone felt threatened. It was in public places, in restaurants, in malls. It was in all the buses and trains. It was clearly a more important strategic weapon.”
The virtual halt to successful suicide bombings can be chalked up to several factors: Israel has developed a successful intelligence network that relies on information from Palestinian insiders and electronic surveillance to keep tabs on militants trying to sneak into Israel to carry out attacks. Israel’s ever-expanding network of modern checkpoints, concrete walls and electronic fencing running through the West Bank has made it more difficult for potential suicide bombers. Hamas, the main Palestinian group behind the suicide bombing campaign, has largely held to its vow to maintain a temporary truce as it has tried to exert its influence through the political process.
Video 3 (Rehovot.tv Archive file 2638 9-12-2007@17:16)
“Part of the appeal of suicide bombings was that they were successful,” said Yoram Schweitzer, who has done extensive research on Palestinian suicide bombings at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies. “Now ... every time they’ve tried, they suffered backlash.”
Source: Dion Nissenbaum and Cliff Churgin. A safer year in Israel adds joy to Hanukkah. McClatchy Newspapers (9 December 2007) [FullText]
Labels: Hanukkah
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