In a moment of candor yesterday during his condolence call to the grieving Hershkovitz families in Ofrah, Prime Minister Sharon said, \"I thought that we\'d be able to overcome the terrorism faster. This confrontation requires a new way of thinking, a new approach.\" Arutz-7\'s Haggai Segal and Yosef Zalmanson spoke with former GSS-senior Menachem Landau today, and asked him what has occurred to cause Sharon to make such a statement. Landau:
\"Undoubtedly the Prime Minister is anxious to keep his promises and squelch the terrorism - but there are several reasons why it has not been so easy: We are fighting an enemy that has no restraints, while we do have restraints - some that are self-imposed as the army of a normal country, and a Jewish army at that, and others that stem from our international standing. Sharon is trying, of course, and I think that his general approach is the correct one, but more can be done. For instance, if we have intelligence on a training ground, or a terrorist cell, or weapons storehouses, we should go in and destroy them. I hope that we are doing this; it is hard to know... Another important area is to hit the leaders of the terrorism; I\'m not talking about Arafat - he\'s not the one organizing the violence on a day-to-day level. I\'m talking about the ones who organize terrorist cells and decide how, where, and when they will hit...\"
Zalmanson asked if it wouldn\'t be effective to destroy ten Arab houses wherever such buildings are used for Palestinians to shoot onto Israeli targets. Landau:
\"No, it would not be effective. The terrorists terrorize the local Palestinian population as well, and they can always find other places from which to shoot... Of course sometimes it is important to destroy buildings, but this cannot be our overall strategy. We have to define for ourselves exactly what our goals are. The Palestinians know precisely what they want: a state on the entire Land of Israel, and international intervention - whereas with us it\'s not so simple. The proof is what happened in Beit Hanoun in Gaza a few weeks ago, when we went in, and then we were forced to leave, apparently under some sort of pressure... We have not even formulated the exact final borders that we wish to have...\"
Landau continued, \"I doubt whether Sharon will be able to put an absolute stop to all terrorism, especially when it can be activated by just one guy with a rifle. But it can be significantly lessened. The PA\'s terrorism is different than other terrorism in that it\'s not exactly underground - it is being organized and financed by a known entity that has an army of sorts; if we take care of all those who sponsor and organize the attacks, then we can reduce it to an absolute minimum... Don\'t be mistaken: The Palestinians are suffering. Their unemployment is closing in on 50% [38%, according to latest reports]. If they were at all smart, they would topple their leadership and replace it with those who realize that violence is leading them nowhere. This is a struggle that requires endurance, motivation, and wisdom - and little by little, by applying more and more pressure, we can win.\"