BY ISRAEL TODAY—
Israel on Tuesday congratulated America on finally catching up to and eliminating Al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, and noted that the targeted killing was very reminiscent of Israeli counter-terror operations for which Jerusalem is so often criticized.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement praising the determined American war on terror, and calling the successful assassination of bin Laden “a resounding victory for justice.”
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren said the White House phoned him two hours before US President Barack Obama’s public announcement to let Israel know “we got him.”
With all of the excitement in Washington over having successfully assassinated a terrorist leader like bin Laden, Israeli lawmaker Shaul Mofaz, head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, suggested the US refrain from being hypocritical when Israel takes such action in the future.
Mofaz noted that the strategy of assassinating terrorist leaders had been first adopted by Israel following the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, in which nine Israeli athletes were abducted and executed by Palestinian terrorists.
Since then, Israel has repeatedly targeted and eliminated the heads of various Palestinian terror groups, including Hamas in Gaza. Each time, Israel has been harshly criticized by the international community, even its allies in Washington.
Israeli media outlets said that the way Obama chose to go after bin Laden validates Israel’s policy of targeted killings, which Mofaz, a former IDF chief, wants to see more of.
While bin Laden was America’s primary target in its war on terror, there was an Israel connection.
Over the past several years, bin Laden and his top deputies had made repeated references to the Palestinian Arabs, and had pledged their support to the goal of defeating Israel, along with America.
Various terrorist cells in Israel and especially in the Gaza Strip have claimed to be working under the banner of Al Qaeda. According to a US government document leaked by WikiLeaks earlier this year, that gesture was reciprocated by Al Qaeda.
A detainee report from the American prison in Guantanamo Bay revealed that a senior Al Qaeda terrorists held there had raised funds for terrorist attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets.
There are also concerns that terrorist organizations will try to retaliate for bin Laden’s death by attacking American targets in Israel. Israeli security forces have accordingly gone on high alert.