Sept 23 2024
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Q. Was the simultaneous explosion of thousands of pagers on September 17, followed a day later by walky-talkies, Israel’s biggest blow to date against Hezbollah?
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A. First of all, note that Israel does not acknowledge responsibility for these attacks. Nor should it; let Hezbollah figure it out. But ‘biggest blow’? This was a brilliant operation in terms of conception and execution. But the desire to crown it with superlatives is problematic. The current situation is far more complicated.
Q. Because of the issue of timing?
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A. Indeed. The disabling of the beepers, following upon Israel’s evident prolonged success in neutralizing Hezbollah cellphone communication through intercepts, should logically have been the opening move in a broader military campaign to silence Hezbollah once and for all. That this was not the case appears to reflect the suspicion that Hezbollah was about to discover that its communications gadgets had been tampered with. It also (see below, Bottom line) reflects Israel’s prolonged lack of a strategy for dealing with Hezbollah.
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Alternately, or in addition, the Byzantine politics within PM Netanyahu’s coalition--he was planning, in order to expand and fortify his rule, to replace Defense Minister Galant with the inexperienced Gideon Saar--may have affected the timing in some equally irrational manner.
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Yossi Alpher's Death Tango: Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat and Three Fateful Days in March
"Anyone seeking to understand how Israelis and Palestinians traded the hopes of Oslo for something approaching hopelessness is well-advised to read this book. With penetrating analysis and elegant prose, Yossi Alpher has told the gripping story of three days nearly two decades ago that continue to haunt would-be peacemakers. Yossi’s faithful readers will not be disappointed with his latest effort."
Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, Bard College
"A riveting account of the crucial days in March 2002 when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was profoundly changed for the worse. The peace camp has never recovered from those wrenching days, and we live now without any hope of a just settlement. Alpher is a highly respected expert who has spent decades studying this conflict from both sides."
Bruce Riedel, Director of the Brookings Intelligence Project
"A critical assessment of a key period in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict never before presented in such detail. The best and most capable players at the executive and political levels proved unable to forge any resolution, final or partial, because both parties continued to maintain an insurmountable gulf between themselves. This is a MUST read for anyone daring to tackle the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of Israel-Arab relations in general."
Efraim Halevy, former Head of the Mossad (1998-2002)
Oraib Khader and Avi Bar-On are youngish Palestinian and Israeli bachelors with security experience, readiness to do business with one another, a shared fondness for women and money, and total cynicism about the lack of peace between their two peoples.
Oraib and Avi can never become true friends: the cultural and political gaps are too wide. But as they confront a failed peace process and a bleak peace future, they readily become business partners: shady business that exploits a lot of naïve international peace aspirations.
As Oraib sums up on a visit to Sarpsborg, Norway, where the ultimately-failed Oslo peace talks were held, “There is a lesson here for those who still doggedly and hopelessly pursue a two-state solution in the Middle East. Get smart. Get out of the Israeli-Palestinian peace business. Step back and let the Jews and Arabs screw one another while making money.”