No one in the current government has the courage to defend its citizens under attack. That reminds me of the government's negligent behavior during the 2006 Lebanon debacle.

This is criminal negligence.

Israel is dumber than you think. I'm no military expert, but I can tell anyone who is willing to listen that Hamas, and also Abu Mazen's Palestinian Authority, have one goal: to destroy Israel. So they will bomb us whenver they can. Yes, even the PA. (See what Destroy Isarel nonsense is taught in PA schools and written in PA newspapers.) And: no matter what Syria says to the contrary, the Golan under Syria will be a shooting field for Hizbollah to bomb Israel. Israel is so dumb because since about 1995 its leaders have been lying to it. For a long time, both the press and the public have been duped, and now many IDF officers have become blind. Mr. Alex Fishman, interview Bogie Ya'alon to get the full true story.

Olmert is afraid of irritiating the US Egypt and Jordan. he is also afraid of blood.He has no confidence in the IDF since hezbollah war. he asks no questions and his training is counter to simple military logic so he is out of his depth. Barak complained when Sharon defended israel that there were too many casualties. Barak is basically a conscientioius objector and wants no part of military action.He wants minimun casualties even if it means castration of israel's deterrence. Israelis rejected him totally, ony a shm**ck like Olmert could bring him back. Israelis do not think barak is any good at all.

it is incredible that no one in the governement think that the next war with hamas will come sure and will be very painful because of their negligence to forbid to hamas to build more and more capabilities;the same with hezbollah in the north;;;and what about Gilad Shalit ???wake up israeli people it is time to put aside all these morons who are tired of fighting to survive..

,.....pretty dumb, obviously. At least those in charge of this road show are.

trying Olmert, Bush and the rest who advocate the capitulation of Israel. Who needs enemies w/ these 'friends'.? These idiotic policies are a true embarassment to every Jew.

What politicians seem to miss is that our actions have little bearing on international opinion, not because they are all anti-semites (though some are) but because we play a poor PR game. Does anyone care that we "graciously" decide to keep the peace despite the rocket-fire? Does anyone care that Hamas could just as easily solve the food shortages in Gaza as anyone else? Why is it that it is legitimate for Hamas to ignore the needs of the people they govern, the same people who put them in power, but it is not legitimate for Israel to close the borders because of a clear and constant threat to security? What needs to be done is simple: * Better PR internationally. This means better media coverage. Suing foreign media for libel when necessary, and reporting on it. Deal with the image of the rude Israeli tourist. Invest more in cultural endeavours, such as education; Olympic sports. Deal with the issues that make us morally corrupt, eg: take care of our Holocaust survivors; weed out religion and corruption from the government; address criticism with more sophistication than simply labelling racist. Project an image of an advanced, cosmopolitan, liberal society, rather than a religious fundamentalist one. * Better treatment of those who agree with us, and those we wish would agree with us (eg: Arab Israelis). * Zero-tolerance of terrorism. 1 rocket and 100 rockets receive the same response, regardless of the number of casualties. Furthermore, whatever damages are caused by terrorism should be automatically deducted from the money that we give them. And if there are outside financiers we can sue them for the damages in an international court. * Zero tolerance of those undermining our image as a civilized society. Eg: the violence in Hebron.

What politicians seem to miss is that our actions have little bearing on international opinion, not because they are all anti-semites (though some are) but because we play a poor PR game. Does anyone care that we "graciously" decide to keep the peace despite the rocket-fire? Does anyone care that Hamas could just as easily solve the food shortages in Gaza as anyone else? Why is it that it is legitimate for Hamas to ignore the needs of the people they govern, the same people who put them in power, but it is not legitimate for Israel to close the borders because of a clear and constant threat to security? What needs to be done is simple: * Better PR internationally. This means better media coverage. Suing foreign media for libel when necessary, and reporting on it. Deal with the image of the rude Israeli tourist. Invest more in cultural endeavours, such as education; Olympic sports. Deal with the issues that make us morally corrupt, eg: take care of our Holocaust survivors; weed out religion and corruption from the government; address criticism with more sophistication than simply labelling racist. Project an image of an advanced, cosmopolitan, liberal society, rather than a religious fundamentalist one. * Better treatment of those who agree with us, and those we wish would agree with us (eg: Arab Israelis). * Zero-tolerance of terrorism. 1 rocket and 100 rockets receive the same response, regardless of the number of casualties. Furthermore, whatever damages are caused by terrorism should be automatically deducted from the money that we give them. And if there are outside financiers we can sue them for the damages in an international court. * Zero tolerance of those undermining our image as a civilized society. Eg: the violence in Hebron.

Olmert and Barak and their cohorts have put thousands of citizens and risk and endangered the country. They should be put on trial for treason and given the supreme penalty: the death sentence.

He can call it like it is all he wants, that doesn't change the fact that none of you are doing anything!! What will it take to get the Israeli people to act en masse to change your government?? Thousands of civilian casualties?? Why not act before that happens? All you people living in communities not hit by rockets do nothing to pressure the government into action. Do you intentionally ignore the fact that it won't be long until you have to worry about your own children getting blown up in the street or in their beds by Hamas rockets??

absolutely true the facts in this article.... and thanx to AVINOAM nr. 10 for the great insight! Hopefully a real leader of ISRAEL will stand up soon and perform...

Israel's Left-wing has played us for fools since the onset of the Oslo Psychosis. They destroyed vibrant Jewish communities in Gaza and turned it into the world's largest terrorist camp. Now they want to do the same with the Golan, E. Jerusalem, Hebron and the rest of the West Bank. They allowed Hezbollah to turn S. Lebanon into the world's largest missile site, all aimed at Israel. We have been, and continue to be, as dumb as our Left-wing wants us to be.

Bow down, and worship me!

Just get out of there. What are those irresponsible people doing in Sderot anyway? Same goes for Ashdod. And, we should definetly evacuate from all areas near Gaza. After all, we all know that the Muslims are only fighting for those pieces of land. If we gave them away, we'd have peace.

Funny how we talk about the Palestinians constantly and continuously firing offensive weapons at our civilians. Hello, ladies and gentlemen! That is a war crime. Not my definition, but even Amnesty Intl acknowledges the Palestinian policy of attacking civilians is a war crime. So where is everybody? Why the silence? Where is Oppenheimer from Peace Now? Where is Meretz? Where are the NGO human rights organizations? They all seem to be suffering from PC induced paralysis. The paralysis of inaction of not just being dumb, but being proactively stupid, blind and deaf at the same time. Stupid, because they're supposed to protect human rights and they've failed miserably. Blind, because they make sure they look the other way when Palestinian war crimes are committed. And deaf, because Israelis have been telling them for 8 years that firing rockets at unarmed civilians is a crime against humanity, and they've stuck their fingers in their ears so as not to hear.

dumb enough to label likud list as''right-wing extemists'' and 'anti-peace' and release terrorists for nothing in return and to depend on goodwill of american left

Yes it's time for the Israelis to see the handwriting on the wall. The world of public opinion sees Israel as the real problem in the Middle East. It's not the Arabs or the Muslims or the Palestinians...it's you! For 60 years Israel has whined and complained about being the eternal victims of anti-Semitism. During that time your government has repeatedly committed evil acts towards the Palestinians, the Arab world, and even its own allies! The world doesn't hate jews. They hate the way your government acts. We are sick to death of your pampered, spoiled childlike demands. It is time for Israel to grow up before it is too late. Time is running out. Either you have one state with a constitution for all citizens Jewish and Palestinian or you have two states comprising Israel in the 1967 border and a contiguous Palestine with water rights from the Jordan River and a direct unhindered route to the Gaza Strip. Israel must also leave the Shabaa Farms area and the entire Golan Heights. The world is not going to wait much longer. Either Israel negociates a honest peace treaty or the world will do it for you.

that allows traitors such as Olmert and Barak to be lined up against a wall and shot for treason. We would also be allowed to line up serial killers such as Barghouti against the wall with Olmert and Barak and be finished with the whole sleazy bunch of them.

You have the whole situation figured out. All Israel has to do is concede everything and there will be peace. So why was there no peace before 1967? Do you really think that attitudes in the Arab countries have changed so drastically since '67? The world may view the conflict as Israel's fault, but what about the Arab leaders? They view the existence of the Jewish State as the problem. That was always the problem for them, and it still is. Believing that there will be peace on the sole basis of Israel returning to the 1967 borders is, to put it nicely, naive. The Arab countries decided to attack Israel, and they lost. Their loss of land is their own fault. And as for your condescending final remark, Israel is independent and the world cannot do anything on Israel's behalf. You are ignorant and naive, so drop the condescension.

As someone staying outside Israel, allow me to make a somewhat strong statement: Israel has very poor leadership and this may have serious consequences. There is little fighting spirit, no real concern for the security of the Israel nation and it looks whether the USA has a great role to play in it. I just hope that the people if Israel will see this before the next election and choose some strong determined, and bold leaders that will give more priority to the security of the nation than to trying to play to the tune of some other nations - including the USA. The USA may provide many things for Israel, but they have devided loyalties and doctrines regarding the existence of the nation of Israel and this weakens their response to the threats Israel faces.

our government is just being to busy with commiting corruption and messing with the law. and the question is are they being board, maybe there is not enough action, maybe the "metal token" didnt come down? arent there enough problems already? and how long do they think the situation can keep going like that? im 17 years old and next year ill join the israeli army; im sceard! because i know that soon things are going to get worst.. the hamas are crazy..and so as all the terrorists organizations that bombing and taking people's life every day, all around the world. now, when the lull is still excist, the new government should act quickly to prevent future attacks, or else not only Ashdod, Kiryat Gat, and Kiryat Malachi will get hurt! so quit the crap and start caring for your citizens. great article!