A Point of View: World leaders need to act on Gaza

It is almost as if the world is begging Israel to go into Gaza with a full scale invasion. How else can one interpret the international silence and inaction in the face of Hamas and Islamic Jihad's escalating rocket assault on Sderot, the production of more long-range and sophisticated rockets by Hamas, and the continued smuggling in the huge quantities of weapons and materials to the terrorist regime.

The international community has been surprisingly good, overall, in refusing to deal with the Hamas leadership until it recognizes Israel and halts terror. It has been far less good in helping Israel address the daily rocket barrage on Sderot and environs. Where are the public statements of condemnation by world leaders? Where are the UN resolutions condemning Hamas for attacking the Jewish state from Gaza long after Israel pulled out? Where are proposals for international forces -- UN, NATO, the Quartet -- to intervene and place themselves in Gaza to prevent the rocket attacks and make it unnecessary for Israel to have to consider reentering Gaza as the only way to change the dynamic and protect its citizens.

One can think of all the reasons Israel should not go into Gaza. There will undoubtedly be many IDF casualties, as well as Palestinian civilian casualties. Israel will surely get bogged down there and will have to take over running the place again, which is not a situation that anyone wants. One can almost guarantee the televisions images, newspaper headlines and statements by leaders around the world that will paint Israel once again in a highly unflattering light.

And yet, what alternatives in the long run does Israel have? Not only is the government accused of not protecting the residents of Sderot, but with longer-range rockets in the works, it soon will be accused of not protecting the residents of Kiryat Gat, Ashdod and other cities further north. Where will it end? No government will be able to resist the public pressure to act, once and for all.

Is the world going to sit back and let events unfold with a certain inevitability and then complain about Israel's "disproportionate" response? Or should it ask itself the obvious question: shouldn't we be doing everything in our power to make sure that rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza and weapons smuggling into Gaza are halted, not so much because we worry about what is happening to Israelis, but because it is the only way to make sure that Israel doesn't invade Gaza?

In this sense the Gaza issue resembles the Iran nuclear issue. Those who are most against military action should be those who should most support every kind of measure short of military steps as the best way to avoid reaching the moment when the only option left is the military option.

There still may be time for the world to wake up. The Israeli government worries about a lot of things -- the impact on the Annapolis process, the safety of Gilad Schalit, the need to organize for the day after -- but the dam will burst sooner or later if the current situation continues.

The Bush Administration together with the other members of the Quartet who are pushing the Annapolis process should make it a priority to bring the rocket assault to a stop. Because an Israeli invasion of Gaza, however much it might help Mahmoud Abbas in the long run, will surely bring a suspension of the peace talks, for Abbas would have to show Palestinian solidarity in the face of Israeli “reoccupation” of Gaza and attacks on Palestinians.

Is this going to be a tragedy in which every party plays its appointed role, or will leaders wake up now and do what's right?