Israel can't condone the rocket attacks

May 12, 2008

The writer of the letter "Israeli attacks cause the carnage" (May 3) excoriates Israel because an innocent mother and four children were killed when an Israeli tank entered Gaza and tried to end the Hamas rockets firing at Israel.

The letter writer misses the point about what's going on in that part of the world.

I agree that a two-state solution is the best possible way out of this mess. But the fact is that Israel did pull out of Gaza completely, and now Gaza is a test of what would happen if it pulls out of the West Bank.

If Gaza is used as a base for Hamas rockets firing on Sderot, what can Israel expect if it pulls out of the West Bank - with Tulkarm just six miles from Netanya, with Qalqilya just across the security fence from Kfar Saba, which is seven miles from Caesaria and just 12 miles from Tel Aviv, putting that city easily with rocket range?

Let's suppose that the same situation existed along the Rio Grande with rockets being fired on Brownsville, Texas, every day.

What would happen if the government of the United States failed to respond?

Jack Tucker

Pikesville

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