Israeli News: A Daily Analysis

Major Events in Israel and the Middle East
A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

21 Qassams Hit Sderot Area, Civil War in Gaza

Tuesday May 15, 2007

The situation in Gaza has gone from bad to worse. Hamas attacked a jeep today carrying members of Fatah's presidential guard and then went on to execute all the soldiers. This took place on the day the Palestinians call the Naqbah, which commemorates the tragedy they believe took place in 1948. It is usually a day when Palestinians have put aside their sectarian differences.

Palestinians interviewed today described the current situation as another Naqbah, as it would seem that a full fledged civil war is now in place. Hamas recognized that is has gone way too far, so it decided to do what comes natural, and blame Israel. To underscore how much it blames Israel, it began sending rockets at Sderot. So far 20 rockets have hit Sderot today. These rockets have caused casualties, and the Hamas is desperately hoping that Israel responds with a large scale attack on Gaza, as to blame Israel for what it is doing.

It seems that the Israeli government understands the game and will limit any action to some targeted assassinations. It looks like a full civil war cannot be avoided between the Palestinians sides, Israel just better make sure that it responds by building more security rooms in Sderot, something that has not been done during the past five years.

If Israel did not have a big enough mess on its hands externally, read todayÕs article in HaÕaretz called Five Minutes before the Explosion, written by Nehemiah Shtrasler. The article was written as a response of the law introduced to force local authorities to give the same support to Shas schools (and other religious educational institutions) as to regular schools. Shtrasler asks how Israel can continue to support schools that do not educate the students to support the state. Shtrasler quotes an exchange a recent cabinet meeting: Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit said the ultra-Orthodox are not Zionists. Communications Minister Ariel Attias (from Shas) was outraged: "Am I not a Zionist?" he demanded. And Sheetrit asked: "Do your sons serve in the IDF?""No," replied Attias. "Mine do," said Sheetrit.