7-Aug-11: It's a long way from Rothschild Blvd Tel Aviv to Sha'ar Hanegev. Right?

"Who cares about missiles...?" Well, these Gazan
terrorist thugs do, for a start. And when we stop caring is when
they start winning. [Source]

The newly appointed editor of the Jerusalem Post Magazine penned a piece this past weekend called "Communication is key" (behind the paper's paywall unfortunately). It takes a fleeting and not-so-penetrating look at the middle-class protests that have captured the public imagination here in the past few weeks, and ends with this rather unfortunate line:

"Without a doubt, Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah will remain an issue, and our security is an important priority - but as some protestors have already expressed, who cares about missiles when we can't afford food and rent?"

To be clear about this, we care about food and rent. And we care - a lot - about the threats posed by Iran et al to the well-being of Israel's families and society, as well.

Sad to say, those threats keep being actualized, including this evening. Ynet reports that a Qassam rocket fired from the northern part of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip crashed into southern Israel's Sha'ar Hanegev region in the past hour. No injuries or damage have been reported yet, but as we remind ourselves whenever this happens, no injuries is not the outcome that the jihadists seek. This time their incompetence overcame their passions (again), but as weaponry and advanced technology keep pouring into Gaza, that's not something we ought to count on.

At a rough guess, we'll say that the ease with which missiles are ignored is directly related to how far from your living room they're falling. Sadly, none of us can count on that distance being a permanent factor.