Mowing the grass (Hebrew : כיסוח דשא) is a metaphor used to describe periodic Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip to manage the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. During such attacks, Israel targeted Palestinian militants, [1] [2] Palestinian civilians, [3] [4] and the civilian infrastructure of the Gaza Strip. [3] [5] [6]
The strategy is usually carried out by conducting short, sharp military operations to maintain a certain level of control over the area without committing to a long-term political solution, similar to how one would mow a lawn to keep it neat and tidy. [7]
The term was coined by Efraim Inbar and Eitan Shamir, [8] two columnists for The Jerusalem Post and strategic studies researchers. [9] [10]
According to Adam Taylor in The Washington Post , "the phrase implies the Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and their supply of crude but effective homemade weapons are like weeds that need to be cut back." [1]
Naftali Bennett referred to the idea in a speech in 2018 when he said "מי שלא מכסח את הדשא, הדשא מכסח אותו" ('He who does not mow the grass, the grass mows him'). [11]
Yet, it is not only "rival organizations" and "non-state" actors that these strategies target, but also the civilian population, its life, and infrastructure, as described below.
the Israeli military doctrine of "mowing the lawn" that requires a hard attack against Palestinian resistance groups and civilian infrastructure in Gaza every few years