There is a military solution to terror - Part 2
On Friday, I posted about how terror has been brought under control by the IDF in Judea and Samaria. Now we're going to look at southern Israel and at how life has changed since Operation Cast Lead one year ago this week (on the Jewish calendar). The three-week Israeli campaign in Gaza launched on Dec. 27 drew harsh international condemnation and threats of war crimes prosecutions over the hundreds of Palestinian civilians killed.
But most Israelis see it as the only means they had of ending eight years of rocket attacks on Nahal Oz and other nearby towns and villages.
After Ronit Goldberg's husband lost his job in high-tech and life in central Israel became too expensive, the family of four looked for a new start. They found it last summer in Nahal Oz.
This used to be a place where few days passed without people having to dash to air-raid shelters. Now, it's a quiet village with open spaces, down-to-earth neighbors and affordable housing. The only thing Goldberg hears from Gaza these days is calls to prayer at the mosques in Gaza City.
"Central Israel has become a place for rich people; the south is a place you can grow, a place with potential," said Goldberg, 39, as she cradled her 2-month-old son Noam, born in Nahal Oz.
In nearby Sderot, the town that was the rockets' biggest target, shops and markets are filled, and children who were conditioned to stay close to home and shelters now roam the streets.
At Sapir College, where a student was killed last year by a rocket that hit the parking lot, enrollment has since grown by 11 percent.
Sderot spokeswoman Sima Gal said real estate prices have increased 20 to 30 percent. The town engineer, Yoav Lapidot, said the building of 1,400 new homes has been approved, after years of no construction.
Israel Matzav: There is a military solution to terror - Part 2
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