Former officer: Only deterrence can stop Qassams
Colonel (res.) Dudu Marciano, who served as head of weapons department in IDF’s Ground Forces Command, tells Ynet ‘solution to Qassam fire will not be necessarily technological, as we are facing a very cheap, primitive weapon’; adds: ‘Central target should be establishing warnings to (Palestinian) population, its leadership. As strange as it may sound, this priority precedes direct response to Qassams’
Colonel (res.) Dudu Marciano, who served as head of the weapons department in the IDF’s Ground Forces Command, told Ynet Wednesday “to deal appropriately with the Qassam threat Israel must create a deterrence balance in Gaza. The solution will not be necessarily technological, as we are facing a very cheap and primitive weapon.
“It would not be wise to invest a fortune in dealing with the Qassams; we must set a very clear red line –and not move it,” he said.
'We must act against threat indirectly.' Qassam (Photo: Yehudit Mor)
According to Marciano, who was released from the army about a year ago and took part in dozens of forums dealing with the Qassam threat, said “the Qassam is a silly, cheap rocket built with basic explosives, a little fertilizer and some quick welding. The security establishment naturally seeks expensive solutions – but I doubt their effectiveness.”
Playing into the hands of the other side
According to Marciano, “Solutions like these are so expensive that we’re playing into the hands of the other side, of our rivals. We must remember that the threat is characterized by a process of experimentation and error. First Qassams were fired from open areas, and after the IDF intercepted with partial success, they copied the Qassam fire to urban areas and enhanced maneuvers by making the firing more precise and longer range. Therefore, a combined response is necessary. According to my impressions, in the last few days we have been witness to a change in the IDF’s tactics: it is combining its constant pursuit of a technological solution – a solution which must be smart in its simplicity and availability – with operations on the ground.”
“The central target should be establishing warnings to the (Palestinian) population and its leadership. As strange as it may sound, this priority precedes direct response to Qassams - the response to Qassam fire must be is by indirect action rather than the direct action of targeting the rocket-launching cells. We can’t be dragged into trying to find a complicated and expensive solution to a cheap and stupid threat.”
In the end, after investing a great deal of resources, it will be possible to develop a technology to prevent Qassams from hitting Israeli territory – but this is not a practical solution, he says. “It is expensive and wrong to pursue this route. It means investing NIS 100 million (USD 22 million) for every NIS 1 million (USD 220,000) invested by the other side,” Marciano explained.
So what’s the solution? According to Marciano, “We must act against the threat indirectly – not by firing on them every they fire on us – but in a way which makes the other side understand that it’s not worth their while to launch Qassams.”
Marciano believes that “the problem is that no red line has been drawn. We must gather courage, draw a line – and if it is crossed we must go through with whatever we set beforehand, while simultaneously dealing with international pressures. This is how to create deterrent. But what is happening here is the opposite. The red lines are being pulled back. This will not lead to a future solution.”
