Yet again, warnings are being sounded against a "peace now" policy - warnings that have come true more than once in the recent past. "The threat of Kassam rockets on Yesha communities and on central Israel will be a genuine threat." So said an IDF Intelligence Branch officer appearing before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today. He said that Kassam rockets are being manufactured in large numbers in the Shechem area, with the help of Hizbullah elements.
Committee Member MK Yechiel Chazan (Likud) said that there's no point in releasing terrorists while the terrorism continues. "We're giving everything, and getting nothing!" he lamented. Prime Minister Sharon, who attended the session, responded said that it could be said that Israel has also not given much. He said that he is sincerely trying to reach an agreement, and that "we can always stop before the risks become too great." Sharon added that releasing prisoners is an important element in strengthening Abu Mazen, "who represents a leadership that does not believe that the PA can defeat Israel via terror."
Committee Chairman Yuval Shteinitz, also of the Likud, said that he "trusts Prime Minister Sharon," but he is "very concerned."
"Instead of the terrorist infrastructures being destroyed," Shteinitz said today, "as the Road map demands, we're seeing the exact opposite. The terrorists are getting stronger, and in a matter of months, we are liable to see Kassam rockets in Yesha as well, and what we saw in the north - that in exchange for relative quiet, we received a rocket threat along the entire north - is liable to repeat itself, except this time against Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the entire central plain. This is just not an acceptable price to pay, even for a short period of quiet."