As rockets paralyze half the country, was eliminating Abu al-Ata worth it?


IDF says slain Islamic Jihad terror chief was behind most attacks from Gaza in recent months and was planning more, but high cost of killing him, conspicuous timing raise questions

Damage in house in Netivot, southern Israel, following a retaliatory rocket attack from Gaza City, 12 November 2019

Judah Ari Gross writes in the Times of Israel:

The assassination of Palestinian Islamic Jihad top commander Baha Abu al-Ata in the predawn hours of Tuesday morning prompted a massive retaliation by the Iran-backed terror group, which immobilized large parts of the country for two days, raising serious questions about the utility of such a targeted killing.

The conspicuous timing of the strike also prompted harsh criticism in some opposition quarters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was accused of ordering the assassination in order to force his political opponent, Benny Gantz, to scuttle plans to form a coalition without Netanyahu’s Likud party, though Gantz firmly backed the operation.

By all accounts, Abu al-Ata represented the precise type of terrorist figure to warrant a so-called “targeted killing”. Undisciplined and vicious, the PIJ leader was a thorn in the side not only of Israel, but also of Hamas, as his attacks frequently derailed the Gaza-ruling terror group’s efforts to stabilize conditions in the beleaguered, impoverished enclave.  Though some Israeli politicians have insinuated Abu al-Ata was acting on the orders of Iran, which backs the Islamic Jihad, military officials said they believed he was “more a local terrorist who acted unchecked.”

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