When thinking of why Israel is better prepared and better trained for the Gaza Cast Lead operation (that for the incursion into Lebanon in 2006), one name comes to mind: GABI ASHKENAZI, the Chief of Staff of the IDF. Since obtaining that position, he has made TRAINING for battle his #1 objective – and for obvious good reason. We thank him for his commitment to the IDF and to the State of Israel.
To Mark – “Utopia Parkway” has answered your comment very well… I’ll just add that those Katyushas & Grads come from Iran by way of the Egypt through the tunnels in Rafiah (from the Egyptian side to the Gazan side). And it doesn’t matter about the number of rockets and/or mortars fired during the so-called “cease fire” (which we in Israel use as a crossword puzzle joke: according to (insert your favorite terror group, in this case HAMAS), what’s a 6-letter word for “cease fire”? That’s easy – “RE-LOAD”!)… the point is that about 8000 missiles/mortars have been fired from Gaza into Israel over the past 8 years… fewer prior to August 2005, when Jews lived in Gush Katif in the south and the few communities in the north of Gaza (Hamas today uses the remains of Dugit and Alei Sinai, for instance, as staging areas for firing into Ashkelon and Ashdod).
My mother was in England during WWII and experienced the “buzz bombs” – in a similar way, the people of southern Israel have no idea when or where these missiles/mortars will fall… the fear down there is palpable… Any responsible goverment would do all it could to not only defend its citizens but make sure that sort of attack ceases to occur.
