opinion
Israel Foiled Islamic Jihad’s Eff ort
to Impose a New Equation
BY TAMIR HAYMAN
W ithin a span of 48 hours, Israel wiped out
Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s entire senior
military command in Gaza.

On Aug. 6, the Israel Defense Forces killed
Khaled Mansour, the PIJ’s southern division com-
mander, in a pinpoint strike, following the opening
salvo of “Operation Breaking Dawn” a day earlier
that eliminated Tayseer Jabari, the group’s north-
ern division commander. Other fi eld commanders
and terrorist cells were also eliminated.

As head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence
Directorate, I became familiar with these two
bloodthirsty terrorists, who planned murderous
attacks against Israelis. The world is truly a bet-
ter place now that they are gone. In many ways,
Mansour’s removal is even more signifi cant than
Jabari’s, as he was one of the organization’s most
important and senior commanders. Over the
course of his terrorist career, he helped spear-
head PIJ’s rocket capabilities, was responsible for
its operations and was the dominant fi gure behind
the attack that was planned along the Gaza bor-
der in recent days.

The ability to amplify pressure and to take the
enemy by surprise every day, even when he
knows you’re coming, is the key to building deter-
rence. Beyond the impressive tactical accomplish-
ment, it is worth examining the broader aspects
of the operation. First, however, we must keep
things in tight perspective — this was a limited
operation against a relatively weak organization,
likely the weakest among our enemies. The oper-
ation was not intended to fundamentally change
the reality in Gaza, which will continue to pose a
challenge in the future.

The recent series of events began when PIJ
responded to the arrest of a senior member in
Jenin by preparing to fi re anti-tank missiles at
Israelis in Gaza-area communities. The initial and
necessary Israeli response of imposing limits on
civilian transportation in the area encouraged
PIJ to up its demands to the point of establishing
a new equation, whereby the IDF’s activities in
Judea and Samaria would lead to a response from
Gaza. This sin of arrogance is what led to the off en-
sive against PIJ, because such an equation is
intolerable from Israel’s point of view. It appears
that Israel’s objectives in “Operation Breaking
Dawn” were to foil the planned attack, prevent the
establishment of an equation linking Judea and
Samaria to Gaza and enhance deterrence against
PIJ. Aside from the fi rst goal — which was clearly
achieved by ravaging PIJ’s chain of command,
anti-tank units and other military targets — the
success of the other two will be judged in the
future. In light of the severe blow suff ered by PIJ,
it’s safe to assume they were achieved.

The coming days will test the preservation of
Israel’s accomplishments. We must bear in mind
as well that nothing is over until it’s over. One mis-
take, either on defense or off ense, is enough to tip
the balance. This was ample reason from the per-
spective of Israel’s decision-makers to conclude
the operation as quickly as possible.

Either way, the Israeli public must now manage
its expectations: The Gaza problem isn’t going
anywhere and will continue being a thorn in our
side for years to come. Nothing that happened
here over the past few days brings us any closer
to a strategic resolution on this front. JE
IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman is the manag-
ing director of the Institute for National Security
Studies. This article fi rst appeared in Israel Hayom.

pawel.gaul / gettyimages
The Gaza problem isn’t going anywhere and will continue
being a thorn in our side for years to come.

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