Kennan’s doctrine of containment let the United States do away with the Soviets. In a nutshell, Kennan called for zero tolerance for the enemy and opposing every expansionist move with a countermove. That is essentially the Jewish tit-for-tat law.

The unrelenting approach may seem unnecessarily harsh and wasteful, but it is not. Enemies learn that their hostile actions are blocked immediately and reduce hostilities to show level. The critical part is to oppose every move, so the enemy cannot hope to gain the advantage and relents.

Tit-for-tat requires retaliation, not blocking moves. In Jewish law, criminals are punished at once, not jailed long-term. In relations between people, punishment works as prevention. Not so with guerillas because they are dispersed and can’t be punished. Similarly, the United States could not punish the Soviets for Cuba or Angola. When punishment is impossible, containment is the next best solution.

Israel cannot isolate Hamas or Hezbollah fighters and punish them. She can, however, counter their moves. When Palestinians fire rockets from Gaza, Israel should try to block the hostilities rather than retaliate. Scorching a wide buffer zone in Gaza is preferable to the unsystematic destruction of Gazan towns.

According to the doctrine of containment, Israel should have blocked Hezbollah’s construction works in South Lebanon and opposed the Iranian Revolutionary Guards upon their arrival in the Beka’a. Kennedy did not wait for the Soviets to finish installing missiles in Cuba. He escalated and ended the conflict.

Containment works only when one party escalates the conflict beyond the other’s tolerance. Otherwise, the enemy wages a war of attrition. Guerilla warfare is cheap, and Israel now spends at least $20M a day in Lebanon. Given such a ratio of expenses, a string of provocations would bankrupt Israel. Her containment response must be overwhelming to discourage repetition and deny the enemy any PR gain which the prolonged war with Israel brings.

Israeli resolve would position her as a master, a crucial point in Arab mentality. A powerful, resolute Israel would live in peace with the Arabs most of the time.