World
N E
A
N A
S's
LINGERIE .
Change Gaza
Approach?
Hours:
Monday-Saturday 9:30-6:00
Closed Sunday
265
Old Woodward
248-642-2555
1173740
In stemming rocket fire on Sderot, a
call for radical changes in Gaza.
Leslie Susser
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jerusalem
MERCEDES-BENZ•AUDI • PORSCH
M
5570 Monroe Street • Sylvania / OH • 419-824-2514
G NC LiveWelt
Let Good Health Be Your First Priority at Any Age!
MOW AIM
Ma
JIM NM Mil
NM
!-2
0% Off
Entire Purchase
III
With coupon only. Not valid with I
any other offer or discount. Valid
at West Bloomfield location only. I
Expires 5/30/07
Ask for our expert advice or your health needs vitamins, herbs, weight loss, body building.
6738 Orchard Lake Rd. • West Bloomfield Plaza • 248-851-4740
1255840
PHIL SCHOSTAK IS OFFERING
GM SUPPLIER PRICING FOR ALL
Now through May 30th
Come in and order the all new 2008
•
Buick Enclave
JIM
ikic
• • . _ • • PRif
*********
NYzene like 746.r.94, cr,a,ayzeor,
•11
. 4
.ril•
ilk!
—
400 N. Main St., Royal Oak • (248) 582-5718
See PHIL for this great
offer on a new Pontiac,
Buick or GMC truck!
ROLYSIS
'ER
ermanent Hair Removal For Men & Women
• Free initial Consultations
• Saturdays & Evenings Available
ELECTROLYSIS
CLINIC of BIRMINGHAM
Specializing in Hair Removal in Birmingham for Over 23 Years
630
N. Old Woodward, Suite 101, Downtown Birmingham
Easy Accessible Parking
REGINA ► AYE, R.E.
248-642-7850
how do you get your news?
Access the news, events and
opinions important to this community
check us out @ Monlinems
30
May 24 2007
1256150
ore than a week of unabat-
ed Kassam rocket attacks
on Sderot has created a
huge policy dilemma for the Israeli
government: What should it do to stop
radical Gaza-based militiamen from
firing missiles on Israeli civilians and
causing pandemonium in the border
town of 22,000?
Should it target radical Hamas
leaders and operatives from the air or
move large ground forces into Gaza
to push the missile launchers out of
range? Involve the international com-
munity or go it alone? Declare Gaza an
enemy state or keep open options for
early accommodation? Try to smash
the Hamas-led Palestinian government
or negotiate with it?
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, heav-
ily criticized for taking precipitate
action against Hezbollah in Lebanon
last summer, so far has committed
only limited air power. But other voices
inside and outside his government are
calling for more radical action, and the
prime minister is under growing pres-
sure to make a major move.
On Sunday, after a sustained six-day
barrage in which Palestinian gunmen
fired approximately 150 rockets at
Israeli civilians in the Gaza area, the
government decided to step up its air
attacks on Hamas and Islamic Jihad,
but not to authorize any major ground
operation.
Anyone actively involved in terror
— Hamas and Islamic Jihad militia-
men and senior officials who give
them orders — would be potential tar-
gets for assassination from the air. The
air force also would be free to strike at
Hamas and Islamic Jihad bases, weap-
ons stores and Kassam-manufacturing
shops. At the same time, the govern-
ment would continue to prepare inter-
national opinion for a wide ground
operation.
But this might not be enough for
the hawkish Yisrael Beiteinu party.
On Sunday, Strategic Affairs Minister
Avigdor Lieberman threatened to pull
Yisrael Beiteinu from the coalition
unless the government took serious
steps to crush Hamas.
"Either the government dismantles
Hamas or the government will be dis-
mantled," he warned.
Fragile Situation
Few political observers are taking
Lieberman's threat seriously, for now
However, if the crisis escalates and he
does withdraw from the coalition, that
probably would be enough to trigger a
process leading to new elections.
Most military experts agree that
the only way to stop the Kassams is
through a major ground operation.
They acknowledge, however, that it
would come at great cost in terms of
Israeli military casualties, Palestinian
humanitarian suffering, international
opinion and economic losses.
Moreover, the Israeli army would be
deflected from the intensive rehabili-
tation program for its ground forces
that was instituted after last summer's
Lebanon war. It also would mean the
final collapse of what is left of the
cease-fire plus redoubled Palestinian
attempts to launch a new round of
suicide bombings. Worse, the fighting
could get out of hand and lead to a
wider war involving Lebanon and pos-
sibly Syria.
Still, many strategic thinkers believe
the government needs to radically
alter its thinking on Gaza. Former
National Security Adviser Giora Eiland,
for example, argues that Israel should
define Gaza as an enemy state with
which it is at war. That would mean no
movement of goods or people across
the borders; all Gaza state institutions
and personnel would become targets;
Israel could announce deadlines for
stopping the flow of electricity, water
and fuel into Gaza, giving the Gazans
time to make other arrangements; and
reserve the right for Israel to reoccupy
parts of Gaza, like the Philadelphi
route.to stop the flow of weapons from
Egypt into Gaza, and Beit Hanun, to
push the Kassams out of range.