Please Protect Us, For We Are Weak
Israel, US discuss deploying NATO troops in West Bank Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 20, 2008 www.jpost.comThe United States is reviewing the feasibility of deploying a NATO force in
the West Bank as a way to ease IDF security concerns and facilitate an
Israeli withdrawal from the area within the coming years, defense officials
have told The Jerusalem Post.The plan, which is being spearheaded by US Special Envoy to the region Gen.
James Jones, is being floated among European countries, which could be asked
to contribute troops to a West Bank multinational force.Jones, a former commander of NATO, was sent to Israel in November to help
the Israelis and Palestinians frame some of the security mechanics necessary
for a broader peace agreement.As first reported in the Post last month, Jones's plan calls for stationing
third-party troops in the West Bank to secure the area in the interim period
following an Israeli withdrawal and before the Palestinian Authority can
take over full security control."The deployment of such a force has come up in talks, and Jones is known to
be working on it," a senior defense official said Tuesday. "At the moment,
it's just an idea and has yet to be accepted or adopted by Israel."Defense Minister Ehud Barak has met with Jones and been briefed on the plan,
but has yet to finalize his position. An official close to Barak said the
deployment of a multinational force in the West Bank could create
operational challenges for the IDF if it decided to respond to Palestinian
terror attacks
following the withdrawal.One of the issues that most concerns Israel is whether under such a
withdrawal, the IDF would retain its operational freedom in the West Bank
despite the presence of the multinational force."If they fire a Kassam rocket into Israel, will we be able to respond, or
will we need to rely on the foreign troops stationed there?" one defense
official asked.
On Tuesday, US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones hinted at the possibility
of deploying an international force for the period following a withdrawal
and until the PA could ensure security in the West Bank.
When has this idea ever worked in an area that contained a population that is hostile to Israel.
Has UNIFIL in all the years that it has been in place in Lebanon, stopped Hizbullah?
If Israel allows foreign troops police Judea and Samaria, pre 1967 Israel will be under daily attack just as Sderot.
When has Zionism involved the idea of letting others protect Jews, I thought we were to become strong in order to insure that never again Jews would be murdered for the crime of being Jewish.
Please world protect us for we are weak, what a load of rubbish, the only weakness in Israel rests in 120 members of the Knesset and in the cabinet and Prime Ministers office.
