Israel's Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told the cabinet Sunday that he is chairing brainstorming committees staffed by senior officials from throughout the security forces - army, police, Shin Bet - to formulate a response to the suicide bombing phenomenon.
According to Haaretz, the brainstorming sessions include analysis of deterrents ranging from expelling bombers' families from the West Bank to Gaza, arresting religious leaders who speak out in favor of suicide bombing, demolishing the homes of suicide bombers, disrupting financial channels that provide money to the families of suicide bombers and undermining the civil infrastructure of the Islamic charitable organizations.
The brainstorming sessions have been accelerated in recent weeks, in expectation of a new wave of suicide bombings, and Ben-Eliezer is projected to summarize the recommendations and conclusions reached by the teams within a few weeks.
In general, the Israeli defense establishment regards the suicide bombers as the most dangerous threat to Israel in the current state of the hostilities and the experts say there will be no "one swoop that will end the phenomenon," and so are discussing ways to strike at the roots of the problem.
Another security source said the strategy would be "surprise. Sometimes we'll respond with expulsion, sometimes with house demolition, sometimes with arrests. The important thing is that they understand Israel will chase them down and demolish the homes of the suicide bombers over and over if they try to rebuild." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
