There are no total victories in war or elections. Enemies/antagonists/opponents remain active. Dealing with one problem is likely to produce a host of others. Von Clausewitz told us that war is a continuation of politics with other means. In both war and politics there remains work to be done after the fighting or the voting.
The Gaza operation has produced its share of spin offs, some of them predictable.
There is no shortage of claims that Israel ought to be held accountable for war crimes. A minister in the UK Foreign Office is demanding an investigation into the improper use of phosphorus munitions. Human Rights Watch is also convinced that Israel is guilty on this point, and wants an inquiry that will prove it.
Ban-Ki Moon is focusing on Israel's attacks on UN installations. What else? The Secretary General is standing up for his employees among the Gazans who are sure that there was no improper use of their facilities.
Israel is conducting its own inquiries into both charges, as well as other claims that soldiers acted improperly. In order to minimize problems, the military employed a staff of legal advisers along with its commanders. It is compiling dossiers that include evidence of the enemy using residences, mosques, schools, UN installations, and clinics for military purposes. The material is not likely to silence those who are feverish in their intent to convict Israel and its soldiers, but it might be useful if charges are brought before courts or committees of inquiry willing to listen.
Less expected has been the appearance of supernatural forces, working in behalf of Israel's soldiers.
Making the rounds of those inclined to believe, and bolstered by the internet, is a story that former Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu prayed at the tomb of Rachel prior to the Gaza operation, and that a mysterious woman appeared at several points during the fighting to warn Israeli soldiers against deadly traps.
The word is that the woman is Rachel, or sent by Rachel, or somehow connected to the biblical figure revered for her capacity to protect Jews and respond to special requests.
Judaism does not easily revere the supernatural. According to Deuteronomy 18:
Let no one be found among you who . . . practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens. . . or who . . . consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. . .
On account of language like that, hapless sorts from Salem and elsewhere paid with their lives.
Individual rabbis, including the son of Mordechai Eliyahu, have lent their support to the story of Rachel. Other rabbis put themselves somewhere between polite skepticism and outright rejection. The head of one religious academy bristles at the thought of Jews relying on those who have died. Judaism emphasizes life, according to his view, and the responsibility of the living to deal with the here and now.
There is much to do. Gazans are repairing damaged tunnels, digging others, and already transporting fuel, men, and munitions from Egypt into Sinai. Israeli officials are threatening to retaliate, and working toward setting up committees with Egypt, the United States, and European countries to deal with the problem.
Should Israel send its warplanes after every report of a new tunnel, and destroy yet additional buildings close to the Egyptian border? Should it rely on others to stop the traffic, when earlier promises proved useless? Or should it rely on the death and destruction it has wrought to be the most effective way of postponing the next round of fighting?
I can wish for an obvious answer, but I fear there is no one way that is clearly superior to others. I doubt, too, that Rachel or any of her biblical colleagues will make it easier for us.
I welcome comments sent to my e-mail address below.
Ira Sharkansky (Emeritus)
Dept of Political Science
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
msira@mscc.huji.ac.il
Tel: +972-2-532-2725
Fax: +972-2-582-9144