Strategic Assessment

After forty months of the violent conflict between Israel and the Palestinians the time has come for a renewed examination of the concept and strategy by which Israel conducts the struggle against Palestinian terrorism and guerilla warfare. This examination is necessary because the strategy of "foil and engrave into consciousness" has thrown us into a bloody dead end. It has not succeeded in stopping the violent Palestinian struggle, and we can say with a high level of certainty that it has also failed to create any long-term deterrence in Palestinian consciousness, such that could prevent similar outbreaks of violence in the future. Ironically, the facts on the ground that this strategy has created are the main obstacle to achieving its objectives.