Ma'ariv (Hayom supplement) in Hebrew 27 Aug 98 p 7
                            "Poor Man's Bin-Ladin"

When the cannons roar, politicians salute the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]. Husam al-Amin
was killed, the residents of the Galilee ran into the air raid shelters, and not even one
politician of note questioned the wisdom of the operation.

Only President 'Ezer Weizman voiced indirect criticism when, during a visit to Qiryat
Shemona, he said he "hoped" whoever gave the order to open fire at the car of Amal's
operations commander "gave thought" to the consequences. Did he? Or was somebody
trying to distract attention from the blows recently taken by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] in
the security zone?

There is no doubt that al-Amin was worthy of being killed. The question is whether his death
was worth the price of thousands of people spending a whole night and day in the shelters,
disrupting work, and severely hurting tourism at a cost of millions of shekels, not to mention
the suffering of the casualties, stress, inconvenience, and aggravation, such as that
experienced by two couples whose weddings were disrupted.

Al-Amin will be replaced by another officer, whoever he may be, and Amal's terrorist
operations will continue, perhaps even more intensely. There is also the danger of retaliation
against an Israeli legation overseas. All this would seem to be worthier than the head of a
terrorist, of whose existence we were unaware until two days ago. A poor man's Bin-Ladin.

Ultimately, only a political solution will put an end to the bloodshed in south Lebanon and the
harassment of Israel's northern citizens. Until then, our interest is to reduce rather than
expand the circle of hostility within the reach of Katyushas.