By Schmoel Yitzhak
The cartwheels of joy executed at the White House over the alleged killing of Osama bin Laden are premature and utterly deceptive.
Where's the proof?
Never mind the hocus-pocus declaration that bin Laden's body had to be "dumped" into the sea for religious purposes.
We're talking about a man responsible for having thousands of Americans killed. Therefore his body -- assuming that whatever was "dumped" in the ocean actually was bin Laden -- should have been brought to the United States where any doubt about mis-identification would have been removed. The world's public deserved proof-positive and nothing less.
No matter what rationalizations the gloating president of the United States may present, doubt will be the order of the century about whether or not the real bin Laden was killed because the actual body was not brought home.
But let's assume -- painful as it may be -- that Barack Obama is telling the truth. So, what if bin Laden has been killed; how much of a difference will it make in terms of war or peace?
Does that mean militant Islam suddenly will retreat from its anti-American, Anti-Israel policies of eventually colonizing the world and, of course, wiping Israel off the map?
Not a chance.
Only the likes of Pollyanna, Snow White and Cinderella would believe that any tangible good will emerge from the bin Laden hullabaloo.
Israel learned that painful lesson a few years ago when it assassinated two of the top bananas in the Hamas' hierarchy.
Yes, it was a blow; albeit it a temporary one. But like any whack to the midsection, the victim generally recovers.
We saw how Hamas recovered; first by bayonetting the PLO out of Gaza and now by raining mortars and assorted rocketry on innocent Israelis.
Bin Laden's organization has many tentacles. If, in fact, Osama has been killed, you can rest assured that another "Arab holy warrior" will replace him; faster than you can say "Ismail Haniyeh."
Oh, him. That's the Senior Hamas Leader who condemned the killing of bin Laden by U.S. forces. Haniyeh is mourning bin Laden as an "Arab holy warrior."
Haniyeh: "We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."
Really. The Hamas leader once again delivers a verbal slap at Obama who -- he's a Muslim, remember -- merely turns his other cheek.
Given his druthers, Haniyeh would just love to shed the blood of every Israeli Jew. But, then again, that's not news.
What will be news -- if Benjamin Netanyahu plays the right card -- is whether Israel will target the Hamas' version of bin Laden should another homicidal rocket attack be perpetrated against Sderot, Beersheva, Ashkelon or a school bus filled with innocent, young Jewish youth.
Haniyeh must be for Bibi what bin Laden was for Obama; no more, no less.
Hey, if Obama can boast about such a targeted killing of a terrorist, why not Bibi?
Meanwhile, for Netanyahu, the key word, above all, must be preparation.
While storm clouds gather across the Middle East, Israel cannot be caught short, neither militarily nor politically.
Too many times in the past, the government in Jerusalem has been seduced -- usually by Uncle Sam -- into absurdly ineffective peace pacts.
* CASE IN POINT, I -- GAZA: For many years, the IDF prevented smuggling of weaponry by occupying the Philadelphi Corridor. When Israel pulled out of Gaza, it relinquished corridor control to Egypt.
On paper it made a little sense; but not a lot.
Under Hosni Mubarak, Egypt half-heartedly monitored Philadelphi. There was just enough Egyptian inattention -- shall I say bribery -- to allow Hamas to actively dig smuggle-tunnels and import anti-Israel weaponry.
What Israel should have done then but failed to execute was anticipatory-thinking.
There was every reason to believe -- even then -- that Mubarak's shaky government would be toppled, opening Gaza for massive weapons shipments.
All Israel had to proclaim then -- whether Uncle Sam liked it or not -- was, "We're out of Gaza but we'll maintain a Phiadelphi presence because it's necessary for our self-defense."
Sadly, that was not done and now Bibi is paying the price.
The new Egyptian government -- as many of us had feared for years -- has tilted toward Israel's enemies and will relentlessly move into Iran's camp. This is not illusion; it's reality.
* CASE IN POINT, II -- CEASE FIRES AND TREATIES: Virtually every "cease-fire" and "peace treaty" signed by Israel eventually backfired on the Middle East's only democracy.
Exhibit A is Lebanon. Pushed into a far-too-hasty cease-fire just as it was about to destroy Hezbollah, Israel inked a pact that provided no ironclad security agreements for Jerusalem. Thus, there has been nothing to prevent the re-arming of Hezbollah and the eventual resumption of rockets raining on Israel. Hezbollah has re-armed and has become more of a threat now than ever.
Examining, Israel's premature Gaza cease-fire agreement, Haaretz columnist Israel Harel puts it as bluntly as anyone: "The government, which is full of ministers with military backgrounds, ignored one of the most basic rules of managing a battle: Take advantage of success (if it had not been a success, Hamas would not have begged for a truce) until the fight is won.
"Who knows how many yellow school buses will be attacked a a result of the decision-makers weak will?"
Preparing for a diplomatic tour that eventually will bring him to the White House, Bibi must never betray a weak will in these crucial talks.
Before making any concessions, Israel's leader must vividly recall the school bus destruction, the thousands of rockets dispatched to kill Jews and, once and for all, tell Obama, "Sorry, bud, but NEVER AGAIN!"
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