Israel's anti-terror policy is working

[Gamblor]

Clearly, Israel's policy of obliterating terror instead of submitting to it, is working.

Israel's stepped-up campaign against terrorist leaders since early 2003 has resulted in a 50-percent decrease in the number of Israeli terror victims. Palestinian deaths have likewise decreased significantly, as operations to arrest terror suspects are fewer and farther between.

Terror groups are in disarray, their leaders in hiding: Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh told a reporter this week, "Hamas might have a crisis on its hands after losing its leaders." Another terror leader said people are "unaware of the limitations and amount of pressure imposed against the Palestinian combatants." And as opposed to Rantisi's bravado ("I prefer to die by Apache"), Hamas' new leader is afraid to reveal his identity or location.

Palestinian leaders are getting the message: Yassir Arafat today expelled 21 Fatah fugitives from safe haven in his compound. And after the Yassin strike, 60 Palestinian leaders urged restraint in a prominent newspaper ad, arguing that the suicide bombings have backfired and calling for 'a peaceful, wise intifada.'

Daniel Pipes notes:

Mr. Sharon's tough policies have established that terrorism damages Palestinian interests even more than it does Israeli ones. This has led some analysts deeply hostile to Israel to recognize that the "second intifada" was a grievous error. Violence "just went haywire," says the president of Al-Quds University, Sari Nusseibeh. A "crime against the Palestinian people," adds an Arab diplomat.

Ordinary Palestinians, too, are drawing the conclusion that murdering Israelis brings them no benefits. "We wasted three years for nothing, this uprising didn't accomplish anything," says Mahar Tarhir, 25, an aluminum-store owner.

Moreover, the over-emphasis by terror-appeasers on the resulting Arab anger deters essential anti-terror efforts. An analysis by Craig Weiss in the Arizona Republic states:

The accepted worldview is that when fighting terror, one must avoid actions that are liable to enrage the Arab world, however effective and justified those actions might otherwise be. Under this principle, however, Muslim extremists have veto power over any effective counterterrorism policy.

The moral of these events?

Nobody here has any right to criticize or advise Israel in any capacity.

Why?

Nobody but Israel bears the cost of the results of this advice.