Enough with measured response to Palestinian terror

Retaliation alone will not put an end to this vicious cycle of violence.

By AVI PERRY
Member of Hamas security forces at site of Israeli stike 390 (photo credit: Suhaib Salem/Reuters)
Member of Hamas security forces at site of Israeli stike 390
(photo credit: Suhaib Salem/Reuters)
The Israeli government’s responses to the recent events in Southern Israel have reinforced long-standing speculation that the government operates under a policy of retaliation.
Retaliation is an emotionally satisfying act that almost always provokes a counter act; thus initiating an endless cycle of bloody revenge.   Retaliation is analogous to inflicting a minor injury on an adversary. These superficial wounds maim the opponent without causing  any permanent, disabling damage.
Reinvigorated by the retaliation attack, the enemy is flooded with unbounded vigor and emotion. The attack has only added fuel to their already burning hatred. The enemy is now energized; their popularity amongst like-minded peers escalates and they are transformed from base criminals into heroic martyrs.
The Israeli response to the violence on the Hamastan border has not quite eliminated Hamas and their partners’ resilience. These Palestinian terrorist groups have shown the ability to rebuild and repeat their acts of violence.
Evidently, their leaders are already talking revenge.
Palestinian terrorist organizations continue to launch rockets and the government continues to retaliate.  And Hamas’s rocket technology is improving. Is Israel going to wait for a terrorist Armageddon before eradicating this cancer, or will Israel treat it with aspirin to make the temporary pain go away?
The Iron Dome may not be able to stop 100 percent of incoming rockets. A war of attrition is advantageous to the enemy since the cost of a single Katyusha or Qassam rocket is miniscule in comparison to a single Iron Dome smart missile.And one day, one of those rockets could hit a sensitive target. It is only a matter of chance, and the odds of such an event are only becoming more likely. .
The time has come for Israel to eliminate the Palestinian threat once and for all. The government must trade retaliation for eradication.
Eradication could lead to widespread resentment from the so-called “civilized” world. The international community will be outraged. They will say that Israel’s actions are too harsh, that innocent lives get caught in the cross-fire, and that this is not a measured response.
But the outcome  will be more permanent. It will last long after the memory of global fury has faded away. History has shown that lasting peace following a bitter war is far more likely to succeed if the enemy is forced into an unconditional surrender.
When wars do not end with the absolute defeat and surrender of the enemy, the peace or ceasefire that follows is unstable at best. Patience can be deadly: The government must not wait for a disaster before exchanging their policy of retaliation for a policy of eradication. 
This is a difficult decision for those who believe in measured responses. However, if the safety and security of Israeli citizens precedes that of its enemies, then eradication is the only possible solution.
The writer is currently a talk show host at Paltalk News Network (PNN). He served as an intelligence expert for the Israeli government and was a professor at Northwestern University. He is the author of Fundamentals of Voice Quality Engineering in Wireless Networks, and more recently, 72 Virgins. For more information go to www.aviperry.org.