Granted war is not the favored option but are "painful concessions" really going to be the outcome of a war that this author describes? "Damascus destroyed", "IDF deep in Syrian territory", and yet we still will be forced to discuss the status of the Golan? If such a war were to be arise and we were to accomplish what the author describes then I fail to see why we would have to agree to give the Golan back. At that point it would be a "ok, you tried again. It was fun...no go away and leave the golan alone". This defeatist mentality of the left is as dangerous as the blood thirsty mentality of the right. You are both lost in recycling concepts that have already failed. Creativity is what we need but all I seem to hear is "give away more land" and "kill them all".

If i understand well this general tell us Syria is ready to wave a war to gain Golan, Israel must not defeat Syria and give without battle Golan now cause maybe arabs will have pity of the poors jews... for me it is defeatismn, no need to have a army which cost billions of dollars if this army doesn't want to win and even to fight... Golan worth Tel Aviv bombed... Im happy that Churchill didn't have the same "fighting spirit" of this general in the second world war. a jewish owned Golan, a secure north Israel, a peace which not depend on the good will of dictators but on a secure and military defensible frontier worth a war... The Golan is the dog who protect the cattle from the wolfes. Tsahal need Alufim not generalim. Moreover, i doubt that Syria really want war it is maybe just a tactic of negociation which in the case of this general work indeed. This general has already lost in his mind. I pray God to protect the jewish people of his failed leadership.

Your words reflect my first thought....What a defeatist attitude.

He was also dug in with loads of disciples. The Pakistan Army broke the walls of Lal MasjidRed Mosque) Tonite he is sleeping with the Virgins and drinking Cool Fruit Smoothies in Tero Paradise

that Damascus will suffer worse . Syria must have no doubt that it will be treated very firmly .

What a defeatist! Many of these extreme left generals are heavily groomed, and influenced by politics. Those who share these defeatist views usually do so to ensure their promotion in the army and into politics. Just take a good look at the ex Generals of the Labor party, they are living proof of being motivated by politics. These career generals are correctly viewed as soft on defense. They try to punch their way into power by repeatedly trying to play the "military card". They assume Israelis will be persuaded that a Party led by a military man will be tough on terrorism. The thing they all have in common is that they are driven by politics and not the welfare of the country. Politics is the driving force behind them. That is why I suggest you all take what he says with a grain of salt.

preconceived notions do not lead to correct conclusions. the arabs have a declared victory after every arab-israeli war, including 1967. the most worrisome aspect of the hezbollah war is that now some israelis, like mr. ben reuven, seem to be believing them. the best way to prevent a war in the north, is to be prepared for one - a crushing military preemptive strike that will shatter syria's air force and armour, as well as the factories that manufactured the missiles that hezbollah fired at israeli civilians. and the most crucial element for such a war is a government with the balls to tell the world: "this we do for what the syrians did to us, and what they plan to do to us."

Israel SHOULD have said 'we won the Golan in war, it's ours, screw you, live with it' like any other country. Instead, we demonstrated vaccilation and raised Arab expectations. Remove their expectations by solidly defeating them, THEN negotiate... or not. Do you have to be Von Clausewitz to understand this?!

No wonder that with such a defaitist deputy commander of the northern front during the Second Lebanon War, Israel did not succeed to break Hizbullah. In his vision, as I understand, giving (not giving back!) the Golan to Syria will solve all the problems. Of course, as most Israelis who do not know the history of their own country, this retired major-general, is not aware about the fact that the Golan Heights never belonged to Syria. My advise to him is (the same advice I gave yesterday to Mr. Oppenheimer the "director" of Peace Now) to "discover" the resolutions of the League of Nations voted in 1922; the corresponding maps, and the brutal breach in 1923 by Britain, the mandatory of Palestine of article 5 of League's resolutions, by ceding the Golan Heights to France, the mandatory of Syria.

Pre-emptive surrender Hurray?

There are several forces in the Middle East now who want Israel destroyed (Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbullah, etc. and should these be pacified by partial surrender, or destroyed by force, new ones will spring up (Russia for instance) and these too will have to be fought or partially surrendered too. If we are to continue to exist we will always be at risk for and sometimes in a state of war, and as the auth rightly notes, giving in to our enemies' demands is the only way to avoid this. If we choose this path we will one day ive up our existence to pacify an enemy (or be destroyed for refusing to do so because we have given up all of our defenses) and so all our wars will end. Why prolong the inevitable. If not having to fight is that important to us, let's cease to exist.

Well we lost that deterent during the lwar last summer, when we stopped too early without obtaing our objectives. Israel is now viewed as weak by its neighbors in Syria,Lebanon(Hezbollah) and Iran. That is why we must prepare the Homefront now, give out the new gas masks, improve the shelters,build new shelters and do all that is necessary to protect the homefront. Why else do you think that The USA at this time has reissued travel warnings to Israel, has sent another aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Drums of war are beating loudly! So if the government does its job and prepares the homefront now,then our soldiers will be able to fight when the time comes without having to worry about the safety of their families at home, and can concentrate on getting the job done correctly this time!