Has Israeli Deterrence Been Restored?

Question asked of Jerusalem Post columnists: "Do you think comments made earlier this week by OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin by which Israel's deterrence had been restored were premature?" For all replies, see "Burning Issues #40: Israeli Deterrence."

	Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin of the Israel Defence Forces.

The statement by Yadlin to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sep. 16 was something of a throw-away line, asserting that since the Lebanon War of mid-2006, Israeli deterrence "is having an impact on the whole region, including on Iran and Syria." One does not know exactly what facts or reasoning lie behind this assessment.

I disagree. Deterrence is not something established by a single raid but through a persistent, protracted effort over years and decades. Israeli leaders laboriously built up such a reputation during the era 1948-93, only then to throw it away by adopting a policy of appeasement. It will take years of hard work – not yet begun, I might add – to reestablish the old deterrence. For now, Israel's many enemies are feeling emboldened and aggressive. (September 20, 2007)