Got reality check. If another loss like LEBANON last year then Israel may disappear or vanish.

better safe than sorry

"a wide-scale military operation in Gaza" Hah! Hah! Hah! Just like they had military operations until now. Threaten, threaten, threaten! Apologize, apologize, apologize! That's all this powerless government and Defense Ministers do. It's quite obvious, and anybody could tell you that there's no chance that this silly trap in Annipolis will fail. Not only will it fail, it will cause terrrorism to increase.

If we are going to launch an operation in Gaza, then for the love of God, Barak, Ashkenazi, DON'T HOLD BACK. I rather we crush the terrorist infrastructure and kill some innocent people in the process than flounder around aimlessly like we did in Lebanon, and kill innocent people anyway. DON'T HOLD BACK.

There are two very simple things I want to tell you: 1) Israel did not lose in Lebanon. It is a widely known fact among scholars of Arab history that the Arab nation has an incredible ability of self-deception (I'm not joking, I've even read Arab historians who acknowldge this). Just like you managed to collectively decieve yourselves into believing you won in 1973 while Sharon and his tanks were on the way to take Cairo, you have convinced yourself that your pathetic loss in Lebanon was a victory. True, Israel didn't achieve its objectives - but then, neither did Hezbollah. The Lebanese prisoners have not been freed, and the Sheba farms are still ours. In other words, the only thing you achieved is having Lebanon's economy crushed, infrastructure destroyed, and thousands of people dead. Congratulation for your victory, and I wish you many more like this. :) 2) If Israel even does disappear, then I can assure you that Mecca, Medina, Cairo, Damascus, Beirut, Amman, Tehran and many others will also disappear into a puff of nuclear waste. You may be able to decieve yourself into believing that is a victory too.

Relax, IDF will never attack Aza. You can spend the day in the beach and build castles with the sand ;-)

War isn't won by points, war is an extension of foreign policy. By that measure, Israel was totally defeated. The result of the Lebanon war is that the US is dictating Israel's surrender to the Arabs. In Annapolis, Israel will be giving away ALL of its water resources and this is a drought year. The only thing which is being mentioned as an Arab concession is recognition of Israel, something that supposedly happened under Rabin in Olso I. For the first time since 1967, there is an absolute stop of Jewish construction on the eastern side of the Green Line, even in places like Maaleh Edumim and Ariel. Immigration is at a historical low. Hizbullah has returned to its pre-war strength, while Hamas can now attack Ashdod. Israeli civilian population is under constant attack and Israel cannot stop it. The Israeli Attorney General says it is illegal for Israel to defend itself. Jewish Israeli farmers (not Arabs) are subject to a war called "agricultural theft" on both sizes of the Green Line and the police refuses to help. Arabs who murder Jews are being released from jail by Israel's president. Stop with racist remarks about Arab self-deception. Khalil Abu Mohammed is right.

These anonymous tipsters of the defence establishment want us to concede pretty much the entire land of israel so as to avoid 'conflict'. How bizarre when the history of history shows that we gained a reputable and real state when we chose to face down the world-wide threats against us. olmert and his fools are not only idiots... they are craven cowards...

then this has got to be for real. It has got to be to remove the threat once and for all. Only going in to do a partial job is only going to worsen the situation.

immigration is actually up. Tourism is at its highest point since before the 2nd intifada started. Israel Att. General said no such thing. Quite the contrary. Ma'ale Adumim is still seeing leaps and bounds in construction, so is Ariel. There will be no concessions at the Annapolis summit since Olmert doesn't have the authority, nor the support within his party, to do so. Hezbollah will be ejected out of s. Lebanon just like the PLO since Barak is the defense minister and learned that from unilateral withdrawals (e.g. Lebanon 2000, Gaza 2006). Its quite funny how you accuse us of self-deception while you are living in la-la land. Utterly hopeless tripe.

Since 1993, 100% of Right wing predictions have been correct. Since 1993, 100% of Left wing predictions have been wrong.

If Abbas is serious about peace making why doesnt he send his own people into Gaza to sort out Hamas using all those nice new weapons we provided his people with at the expese of the IDF. In Lebanon thanks to years of neglect many soilders were having to buy their own bullet proof vests but Olmert then goes and buys hundreds of brand new ones for the PLO security force and gives them new guns just like Rabin did. Why dont they use all these nice new presents and deal with Hamas because they will lonly condem Israel if it takes action. Abbas wants to play the man of peace and condems Hamas for taking part of his patch so let him show how he intends to sort out the terrorism so Israel will be safe if a palestian state is created.

"the terrorist infrastructure would be completely destroyed" Suuuure: just as Hezbollah's "terrorist infrastructure" was destroyed in Lebanon. Will the result be the same? 15,000 international troops to Gaza? Would Israel change its position and allow this?

1) Half of your claims are bogus. At least provide some reliable sources. 2) Claiming that the Arab nation has an enormous capacity for collective self-dellusion is not racist (though it isn't quite politically correct). It's rooted in their ancient history, and there are plenty of recent examples which illustrate my point.

Khalil, What an imagination you have and how you manage to pull a victory out of being decimated is beyond belief. Nasrallah spent all his time hiding deep in his hole. He only came out to beg Israel to stop after being crushed for 34 days. Israel stupidly under Olmert didn't finish the job. This mistake won't be repeated with the next PM. Israel did make mistakes and set up the Winograd commission to study and correct the mistakes for next time. Note that Arabs never learn from their mistakes and continue to repeat them ad infinitum. Another example is the PALs democratically electing terrorist HAMAS to govt. What did they get? HAMAS kills Fatah in Gaza and internal war everywhere. EU, USA, and Israel cut off funds and sealed the borders. Arab countries dumped HAMAS and won't have anything to do with them. Who is left to support HAMAS? Only the idiot money boy of Iran - Ahmadinejad. With friends like that who needs enemies? So now that HAMAS took over Gaza, they lost control of govt. and became irrelevant. Fatah is the poster boy and everyone is handing over money left and right. Peace process may not be moving too well but it is really not in Israel's best interest since they have put down the Intifada with the Fence and constant incursions, arrest, assasinations, etc. But most important Gaza is being ignored by everyone unless they are being laughed at. We got a good laugh when we heard about HAMAS setting up their navy force WITHOUT BOATS! Last year when PALs attacked the Israeli post and kidnapped Shalit, we went in and blew up most of the infrastructure. We control the borders, the airspace, the water front, and every the water and electricity. This time no one cares about Gaza. The only problem is the incompetent Olmert and stupid Mazuz. We need to change our govt and get another Sharon who can go in and totally clean out the terrorist camp. We need to totally destroy them without mercy to the point where people like you will not be able to distort the truth of their destruction into a "win" and they win NEVER be able to recover from the loss. So lets have another wonderful discussion after we finish the next round!

the sooner israel goes into gaza and cleans up the terrorist mess the better off they'll be .The longer Israel waits the more casualties you'll have. Besides force is the only thing the terrorists understand