ARE YOU FOR REAL. THIS IS THE START OF THE END FOR ISRAEL. EITHER THEY FIGHT NOW OR IRAN AND SYRIA WILL BE THE SUPER POWERS OF THE MID EAST. YOU MOST BE A PEACE NIK, SELF LOATHING JEW

So it is not the KIDNAPPING of some Israli soldiers that brought about this war (or escalation), it is the refusal of Israel to take it and do nothing about it!? Strange logic, but a classic from the antisemitic Europe! The Jew shoud take it and shut up - does he thik he's equal !!!

Why does everyone blame the USA for this? We didn't do a damn thing, this is all a Jew vs Arab typical war that is started by yourselfs and will never end until the world ends. Simple fact, as long as there are Muslims and Islam there will be war in the world, it just festers in the middle east.

INDEED MOHAMED IT'S NOT BEEN ONLY THE KIDNAPPING OF ONE ONLY SOLDIER. YOU HAVE CROSSED TWO BORDERS, KILLED MANY SOLDIERS WHO WERE IN ROUTINE BORDER PATROLS, AND KIDNAPPED THREE SURVIVOR ONES. BESIDES THE ACT WAS UNJUSTIFIED EXCEPT FOR BLACKMAILING. REMEMBER THEY ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL SOLDIERS, THEY ARE ON THEIR OBLYGATORY DUTY AND SO THE STATE OF ISRAEL CAN'T ABANDOMN THEM. NOTICE THAT ISRAEL REACTION AIMS TO ESTABLISH A NEW SITUATION OF TRUE CEASE FIRE ON THE TWO FRONTS AND THE EXTENSION OF THE LEBANESE GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY ALL OVER LEBANON

Iran seems to be the cause of all the problems..they fund, arm and destroy all that seems good. When is the world going to wake up and take the needed action of taking Iran out of the picture.. it may sound heartless , but, they need to be taken out. Until then this kind of stuff will always be with us and I for one am sick and tired of it ... make them pay a very, very, heavy price...even to the point of eliminating them completely!!!!!!

Why of course, America is the cause of all of this. Afterall, America invented the airplane! [sarcasm off] But that's the typical mentality of those who blame America for everything. Funny the opinion writer, Yigal Sarena, missed the criticism by Lebanese residents of the Hezbollah leader Nasrallah - for provoking Israel. Of course, Nasrallah wanted to capture some soldiers to use as hostages to exchange them for prisoners held in Israeli jails - prisoners who killed an Israeli family in Nahariya.

"Lebanon, the only Arab country with a strong, effective army" Sure (lol), that explains why Lebanon ceded control over the entire southern part of their country to Hezbollah. Israel's actions are meant to show the Lebanese government that their lame attempt at deniability is unacceptable. A sovereign state does not let a private army operate from its soil, and then disingenuously claim that it has no influence or power "over there".

I really can't improve on what you said or how you said it. The purveyor of this drivel certainly has a big heart but is utterly naive. Wake up you big hearted 'nice people' - the Muslim give not a twit for YOU or YOUR RIGHTS - you are mere scum to them. Think of the Muslims as a plague upon humanity and you will be MUCH closer to reality.

Congratulations for publishing this article - you are one of a minority who sees things the way they really are. If ony the Israeli and Palestinian leaders could see it that way! Keep up the good work - someday somebody may just listen to you and those who think alike!

If we want to compare the Holocaust and what is going on today in Palestine, we only have to ask ourselves : who has the power and weaponary TODAY, surely not the Palestinians! Who is holding 1 1/1 million Palestinians hostage over 1 captured soldier and who is destroying another countries and killing over 100 civilians in Lebanon supposedly in response of the capture of 2 soldiers??

Wake up! Most Arabs want to kill you,. Either leave the country or face reality. At least you have a chance to make a choice that most Jews east of Germany in 1939 did not have. But if you move to Europe they will get to you in due tiem in what is now called Eurabia.

As Israel's chief apologist and benefactor, the US is clearly involved. Some facts: a) the US has provided Israel with $3-7 *billion* (apologies to Dr. Evil) in annual so-called "aid" for decades (far more in constant 2006 dollars); b) the US played a pivotal role in the actual creation of Israel (it wasn't God); and c) the US arms Israel.

Why would y-net publish this kind of crap. One would expect such BS in some Euro-whinnie publication. Joe, Las Vegas

Let's remember that Ricardo grew up in a fascist-oriented environment or with the remnants of it. His Fuhrer, Salazar, greatly admired Hitler. Ricardo learned everything he knows from the extreme right wing schools and media system that Portuguese embraced. Citizens do collaborate willingly with their officials, and we should not exempt Ricardo from his tacit collaboration with fascism. So what does anyone reasonably expect this jack ass to say, other than that Israel sucks?

I, too, have many Arab acquaintances and have found, with the possible exception of some Druze, to be inherently Jew haters. While it is not uncommon for them to profess toleration for Jews and Judaism in day-to-day conversations, I find one cannot enter into anything but the most superficial of philosophical discussions without bringing their true feelings to the surface. The same applies to many Moslems, with the notable exception of Sufis, who hold the Arab to be an example of the highest dimension of human spirituality!

Honestly, Mohammad, the problem in the area is to be found in YOUR formulation of "the problem," wherein you state: "The core of the problem is your parasite existence in our region, and the Belfore promise, may he burn in hell. (sic) " This is hateful invective, pure and simple - and there is not an ounce of truth to it. "[P]arasite existence," you say? Do you even know what a parasite is? A parasite is an organism that lives off of other organisms. By that definition, Israelis are not parasites. Israel's GDP is greater than that of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan combined. That is not living off of someone or something; that is making one's own way in the world. You want to know who the parasites are? Answer this question: who went bankrupt after Israel stopped giving them money - even though they received millions of dollars annually in aid from the U.S., E.U. and all of their arabic neighbors? Those are the parasites. Second, the fellow's name was Arthur James Balfour, not Belfore (may a thousand Dictionaries of Proper Names pile up in front of your door). But Balfour's 1917 declaration did nothing. In the years following the Balfour declaration, the British government became hostile to the idea of a Jewish homeland, and toward Jews in genral. In the end, they turned against Israel and fought on the side of the Jordanians and Egyptians in the '48 war - in order not to alienate their oil interests elsewhere in the region. If the truth be told, the Palestinian Arabs - leaders and men alike - bravely turned tail and fled the country, believing the organized armies of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq would do their dirty work for them in driving out the Jews. Those invading armies and paramilitary forces, in turn, simply lacked the resolve to win - against a determined people who faced extinction if defeated. As a result, Israel was still standing when the smoke cleared - and the arabs only had themselves to blame for the result. The same is true of the '67 and '73 wars. So, why don't you just admit what is really going on with all of this hateful speech. You hate the Jews because they are not muslims, and they live and thrive in a land once conquered and occupied by muslims. It makes you crazy because lands once governed by muslims aren't supposed to be ruled by non-muslims. No, non-muslims living in muslim lands are supposed to pay the jizya and live in subjugation to their muslim rulers and the Sharia. It's high time for you all to get over this madness. Nobody is going to back your hatred any more. Those who do won't be around much longer. Be different. Live in peace, and live longer.

Being a leftist means never having to say you are sorry. The capacity of human beings to deny reality is truly amazing.

So, are you satisfied? See, no one censored your anti Israel crap. Which is more than I can say if you were trying to perhaps criticize the Arabs in an online Arab news site. Now N.C., why don't you just go back to your anti semitic, anti Israeli news on BBC, so you can be reassured that you most certainly are right, it's always the Israeli oppressors starting up. You British, just like the French, are a bunch of losers. Thank god, we Israelis are not.

I agree with many points of this article, however we know that the leaders of Israli State are selfish and they only look for their own benefit and even not of their people.This is because, they can negotiate to release their three soldiers safely since they keep many children and women in their jails.However, they committed another mistakes now in Gaza and Lebonan.In order to leave in safe you have to be fair, otherwise you will lose everything since you come to this area from the whole World.

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/opinion/16brooks.html If you want to get some perspective on what's really going on

In my opinion, Olmert was entirely correct to characterize the cross-border incursion that killed 3 and captured 2 soldiers "an act of war." People complain that terrorist attacks on civilians are cowardly and unsoldierlike, but the same can't be said about attacking an army post that should have been defended against such intrusions. It was a legitimate act of war, but I think Hezbolla was surprised at the response. Hezbolla will now learn that if you wage war, your enemy will wage it right back at you.

Well, lets see. Missiles and kidnappings from the south. Same thing from the north. What would you suggest? Hiow about surrender of Ashkelon and south to Hamas? Plus, Haifa and north to Hezbollah? I assume you live in Tel Aviv and would find this a reasonable compromise to avoid conflict. What a moron!!

Yes I know this author. I went to school with him and I believe his mother was an arab. An unnessary choice :(>

Helloooo? Are you there??? Have you taken your meds today??? Seems not! um...Just to tell you , im sure that you have not read any news since 1996, that the Iranian backed HIzbollah, have fired rockets on a State named Israel. Im sure you know Israel dont you? Its a country, a bit like the United Kingdom, and that means it is under attack. Now just explaining to you incase you have not understood what the word "Attack" means?? If you would like me Yigal to give you private English Lessons, please dont hesitate to email me will you?

The writer Yigal Sarena represents the smal minority of people in Israel that seem to be detached from reality. True nobody gains from war and the best solution is to have wonderful solutions that all parties are happy with. Unfortunatly this is more or less true when facing a situation where your neighbours are western european and have similar views and moral standings. Wake up and realize, these enmies of ours are determined to destroy us and thrive on any weakness they see. As Yigal has obviously witnessed, we are under constant threat. We pulled out of Lebanon were made wonderful promises of the Hezbulah being disarmed and controlled. Exactly the oposit has happened and they have been given a free hand and armed to the teetyh.

This writer is delusional.Why is this being published when a thousand rockets- bombs- have been launched from Gaza, and countless such attacke have come from Lebanon for years? It was easily predictable the Arabs would take withdrawals as retreat,yet, Israel went ahead, anyway, being forced by the International community and instigators like Beilin.The warnings of Israel's extremely talented and knowledgable military and intelligence agencies went unheeded. And here we are, with many killed. It would be very nice if Israel had a peace partner, but it doesn't. There is no choice. Please, there is no reason to print this drivel that ignores the respect and the lives of the evacuees, those murdered, those living in the Southern part of Israel. It's obscene.