Note: The translations of articles from the Hebrew press are prepared by the Government Press Office as a service to foreign journalists in Israel. They express the views of the authors.
AN ONGOING WAR
(Commentary by Oded Granot, "Ma'ariv", Sept 13, 1998, p. A17)
The circumstances of the death of the Awadallah brothers do not fit either
of the two versions that have been circulated in the past 24 hours: the
conspiracy theory on the one hand, and the coincidence theory on the
other.
In other words, there was no prior agreement between the Israeli GSS and
Jibril Rajoub's Preventive Security Apparatus to intentionally permit Imad
Awadallah to escape from a Palestinian prison, so that he would lead to
his brother and enable Israel to capture both of them in one action.
Imad's escape was genuine -- not because of Jibril Rajoub but because of
the weather. Hamas officials turned to the PA and complained about the
severe heat in Imad's cell. The PA eased the conditions of detention and
Imad exploited this fact in order to escape.
The pursuits were also real, both Rajoub's pursuit of Imad and Israel's
hunt for Adel, the leader of the Izz a-Din al- Qassam squads in the West
Bank, who was responsible for the death of many Israelis.
The elimination of the brothers and Hamas' calls for revenge again raise
the question of whether the killing of senior terrorists may in fact
contribute to increasing the circle of violence and boosting Hamas'
motivation to carry out attacks. The clear answer is that Hamas does not
need any incentive to perpetrate terrible attacks in Israel. The fact that
no such incidents have occurred recently is a combination of success in
preventing attacks and a little luck, not a lack of motivation.
At the same time, it is clear that Hamas will now redouble its efforts in
order to show that it was not mortally wounded by the killing of Imad and
Adel Awadallah, and that it is capable of fighting back. In the ongoing
war with Hamas, it must also be understood that the killing of the two men
will not stop terrorism, and that their place will be taken by others. The
cautionary measures taken by the security establishment and the public's
alertness are appropriate.