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Violence is interesting theater, at least. Politically it works in small neighborhoods surrounded by a greater metropolity. Israel elbows its way around its neighborhood because, on occasion, it has worked. It's difficult to see any difference between this primal unreasoning and that of many nations, among them our own beleaguered Republic (and that beleaguerment self-inflicted for the most part).
Mr. Benn spells out without guile exactly what's going on -- again -- along the Strip, and it is a psychological and political "war", one to "make us feel better about ourselves", and a tactic which has universally outlived its usefulness.
Further, when a relatively powerful (on paper at least) entity pounds a relatively helpless (again, on paper) "enemy", terrorism as a reactive tactic is going to gain more and more legitimacy; at the same time when terrorists rise to the aid and leadership of a people they then become elevated not only in the eyes of those they are supposedly protecting but also in the eyes of the world.
Even as Israel "makes itself feel better" by running up another lopsided score in terms of body count ("flies" I believe was the term used by the late Mr. Arafat) it inevitably loses the greater P.R. war, and the more powerful Hamas becomes, even if its constituency dwindles due to overwhelmingly more sophisticated weapons coming at them (not to mention sheer force of numbers).
Meanwhile Israel begins to look more like an internally ungovernable state with multiple personalities and what's left of Gaza starts to look more like Masada, thanks to superior manipulation of public perception. What Hamas lacks in military might it more than makes up for with artful provocation.
The bottom line? Violence makes for very interesting political theater, but someone always gets hurt. After 60 years of this, the Champions of Ethical Behavior are starting to look like the neighborhood bully, and while this isn't a greater tragedy than the sum total loss of life, time, energy and respect on both sides of that line in the sand, it is a net loss to Israel and the world.
That's a pretty high price for boosting self-esteem.
