Sharon ,didn't fill in the citizens of Israel about all the minute details of what they would have to sacrifice for the peace. By the time the Road Map plan is done there will be much greater concessions of wifes,fathers son's and daughter's on the altar of sacrifice for this covenant with death and hell,known also as the Road Map. The body count of dead Jews will rise as painful concessions continue for what is not peace ,but the erasing of Israel, final solution now under way in ever growing stages. Will the Jews folllow their 1930's and 1940's generation into death silently ?

It is unbelievable how Israel allows for giving missiles to its enemies with no action... SOON the will have Kaiusha Shame on you***

All this will do is give Israel another reason to reconquer the strip. Israel has really been fighting with kid gloves in comparison to what they can do, but if they really do have missiles that will penetrate further into Israel, it will only lead to the strip being reconqured, maybe in the 1967 sense.

so, all you people out there in talkback land (this includes you, Steiner), how long before you accept that what all those who warned against disengagement were correct. I'm not one of the people who can say "I told you so". Will it take 20 Qassams and 2000 dead in Ashquelon for people like MIchael Steiner to finally get it into their heads that the disengagement was a mistake, a screw-up, a sell-out to the Americans, a national disaster in the making, etc. How many people will have to die before Dr. Steiner finally appreciates that "Dr. Sharon" got it wrong (as I did). Plain and simple. The withdrawal did not leave us safer or more secure - it has led to EXACTLY the opposite. Perhaps 5000 dead and the power station in Ashqelon would be enough for them to admit that a mistake has been made? Now the army will be forced to reoccupy buffer zones in Gaza at a potential great loss of life - hey didn't we have those once before. Well gee, yes - that's why we were there in the first place (ie. settlements build up by labour governments). Oslo was a mistake - it caused the death of 1000s of people. The disengagement was a mistake - people such as myself are slowly beginning to see this. Personally, I wasn't sure but hoped for the best. Now I see the light. - the PA has done absolutely nothing to try to prevent Qassam attacks (in fact their military wing is actually behind some of them) - Israel has received nothing in return for the only case of self-ethinic cleansing in the history of mankind - old Jewish settlements are being actively used by Hamas, the PA and others, as places from which to fire at Israel - Israel has lost two further things: 1- millions of dollars from agricultural exports 2- the "respect" it may once have had in the arab world (we just sit down nowadays and let ourselves be hit like the proverbial beaten wife) I'm sorry if the Palestinian people are having a bad time, but you know what - we have to exercise self-defense. This is just ridiculous and I am angry. Get the bastards firing on us before anyone is killed.

Something wrong here? Abbas has done nothing to stop terror. The fault of these bloodsucking humans has more to do with those who appease them then their terrorist leaders who have no intention making the important steps to end terror. Furthermore, going to a voting booth does not make for Democracy. You have to have it in your heart and soul not on a gigantic silver platter compliments of the West.

Geez, I'm not the director of Military Intelligence, but I thought of that one--if we create a zone to stop them from firing 8-kilometer missiles, why can't they bring in 25-kilometers missiles now that Eygpt and the EU are "guarding" the Philadelphi Route instead of the IDF? I'm so glad we disengaged from Gaza and destroyed all those thriving communities and wrecked all those lives!

You just can't hand a strip of land bordering your country to terrorists, with no security safeguards whatsoever. That's not strategy, it's suicide.

is for the occupation to end , and to leave gaza alone , and get out of the west bank and east jerusalem where there is 200000 palestinians live and finaly to give an apology to the palestinians world wide for all the troubles and distress they have caused them for the paet 50 + years . now will that be difficult ? i do not think so . so lets get on with it .......

you say israel has been fighting with kid gloves !!!!! well let me tell you that you are wrong israel has been fighting with the most advanced weapons in the world and all that is left to do is use the attomic bomb , which they will never do or else they will be hurting themselves , the only solution for all this blood shed to end is for the zionist state to end the occupation to all of the palestiniaqns land including east jerusalem , and give an appoligy to all the palestinians in the world for all the pain they have caused them .........

Thank God that once you were blind but now you see. The Steiner's self loathing Jews that they are imitate and side with Israel's enemies and will never admit they were wrong The pride of hell fills their hearts and it is against their nature to do so. Like Korah ,Datan and Abiram who spread rebellion aftter Israel was freed from Egypt's slavery these too seek to return Israel into slavery. Now you can see the suicidal road you were on and the millions of Israeli's who remain on this path to death and not peace. Only a miracle will save Israel from itself and Korah's clan which rules now.

The palestinians will never be happy with just the the Gaza, west bank and east jerusalem. They want to push every single last Jew into the Sea. One would think that since we gave them back Gaza. Sharon has promised 90% of the west bank. The PA are putting pressue on the Vatican and US to stake a claim into the enitre Jerusalem. That at least attacks from Gaza should stop. My personal belief was not give back one inch of Gaza, at least if we were going to we should have worked a some sort of deal before left with our tails between our legs. The Time is now for Sharon to repent for his bad judgement and return to Aza. We should give the palestinians a choice they can stay in Aza, Israel under our rules if not send them Egypt, Jordan, or Iraq. The Time is Now. We want Peace Now, The Real Peace.

100% right, we have been osloed long enough

since 1947 is to throw the jews in the sea, or send them back to Europe am yisrael must wake up until it's too late

..if those long range rockets are fired into israel. wrongly, israel is not responding to the current kassam fire but the long range attacks will provoke the same response as a suicide attack. and speaking of that, the disengagement was NEVER promoted as something to end terror. if you believed that you deluded your own self. instead, it was to consolidate the battle lines and that is what it has done. there was minimal response to kassams even before the disengagement, so what's the difference now? actually the difference is that the deaths of settlers, soldiers, and civilians have dropped dramatically from shootings, tunnel bombing, mortar attacks, and suicide attacks. nothing is 100% effective but you can't argue with the fact that israeli deaths have significantly decreased. and while israel is continuing the targetted assassinations of terrorist leadership and shelling open areas, what can the palestinians muster as a response? firing the pitiful kassams which the majority do not make it out of gazan territory. if kassams are israel's worst problem, then that's better than things have been for a long time now. again, security is not perfect but it is a lot better than it was and i'd take the situation now than what it was before. and if israel ever gets the fortitude to step up the response to the rockets, they are in a much stronger, safer, better defensively and offensively position to do so.

it's called israel, it always was and it will always be. you can come write your stupid comments for another decade untill the palestinians (by their own will) will die out and finally we will have peace. your comments don't impress anybody here, you write always the same, and it's always the same answer >no<, give it up jerk and go play outside, it's nothing for kids here.

What he's really saying is ;GO back to sleep ,everyting is O.K. There was never meant to be any peaceful response to Israel's retreat ,this is normal.And dont' worry ,those kissiles are filled with jello for the children.Above all ,pelase to not defeat my buddies, just yet .Relax everything is going to be fine. Just go along with the Road Map to peace and remember it's only a few dead Jews ,Who cares keep surrendering and appeasing the poor Pal's who can't shoot straight It's not perfect but the weapons shipments into Gaza are getting better .larger and mre deadly,so go back to sleep Israel ,everyting will be fine.,Trust me ! Trust George ,Trust Condi ,trust Abbas ,and also Condi. We all love the peace of the grave for you Israel.

Now they will fire their super rocket, probably hurt some dog, and watch good what will fly back into your asses... Israel will assassinate leader by leader, cut down electricity and water, annoy you some here and there, close AGAIN all checkpoints, etc, etc, etc. You'll always lose.... *yaaawn*...

Mike - ask the people in Ashqelon, Ofakim, Sderot, Netivot, Kibbutz Sa'ad, etc. if they feel safer as a result of the disengagement. The purpose of the disengagement was just that - to disengage. Problem is that they are not disengaging from us - its a one way street. Instead of disengaging it has brought the conflict nearer to population centers. Why do you think Israel established settlements in Gaza in the first place. For fun? What is happening today is exactly why governments decided to settle there in the first place. No one kicked the Gaza Arabs out their homes - settlements were built on uninhabited land for security purposes and the Gazans welcomed the settlers (they got jobs, increase in standard of living, etc.). Things only started to really spiral backwards after St. Beilin and his idiot "Oslo" peace in our times.

...so you will be able to understand plain english. the whole reason i sad what i did is because i do not trust the palestinians. and fewer jews have died. boy, you are about as bright as linda rivera, but for you that's probably a compliment.

Palestinians were forced out of their lands for Settlements to be built. I lived there, and i know what i am talking about. Gazans never welcome settlers, unless that was a hollywood movie. Keep killing leaders, it is their purpose to die for their cause. So keep going, god bless you!! Muslims and arabs do not want to kill or get rid of jews, they want a respected equally well-treated arab population of israel, on all the land, or a reasonable peace of it, and they'll call it palestine, if only to differ. You are at the moment occupy at least 95 percent of the land. This is not acceptable. Before this changes, there will be no peace. Believe it or not! it does not matter!

you say: "ask the people in Ashqelon, Ofakim, Sderot, Netivot, Kibbutz Sa'ad, etc. if they feel safer as a result of the disengagement." the key word is SAFER. were the kassams not falling BEFORE the disengagement? do these people you mention feel safer - probably not. is greater israel safer - i would argue yes because of the reduction of deaths and attacks since. if the palestinians step up the attacks, israel will step up the responses from a stronger position. the reason sharon established the gaza settlements is not in question, but the casualties sustained by the settlers and soldiers guarding them prompted him to change his mind. strategically, he felt israel was vulnerable there and he was right. those population centers you mention were just as vulnerable then as they are today, only now israel can respond from a stronger position than before disengagement, that is, if israel ever decides to respond. oslo was a mistake from the beginning but no one has been brave enough to forsake it completely. in the mean time why not let israel take matters in their own hands that will benefit them the most?

Hi MIke, this is where I disagree with you, although admitedly what you say is logical and I used to feel the same way. The problem is that despite the dangers to soldiers and settlers in Gaza, Israel was in control of the borders and consequently her security. What has happened is that Israel has been shown to be weak (this is the perception in the Arab world -doesn't matter what we think), arms have been smuggled in from Egypt, the PA has done less than nothing and Israel does not respond to being hit continually. In short, they (Palestinians) won. For the moment there have been no serious casualties, but this is only because of good luck. Will you change your mind when a Qassam hits an apartment building in Ashquelon and kills 100 people. Israel will retaliate and far more people will die on both sides. Israel will have to go back into Gaza anyway. Will it really be worth it? Perhaps these events will not come to pass, but I would not like to put money on a similar scenario. This is why I have changed my mind. Its all very well saying that we have things under comtrol - them there and us here, but why are we not responding seriously. What (g*d forbid) will it take?

Senior al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are getting improved Katiusha rokests from Iran and they will be able to reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem within one month, such communities were previously immune to rocket threat

you say that israel is seen to be weak. this was the perception of israel even before the disengagement, thanks to oslo. for whatever reason, israel is afraid to respond to terror like other countries actually do. disengaging only reinforces what they thought beforehand so i don't really see it as losing the perceception battle (only renforcing it). also, a kassam could never kill 100 people. one has killed at most 2, 3 maximum(?). why israel disregards the plight of the people in kassam range i can't answer, but in the next 5 years after disengagement how many deaths will result from kassams (even if the palestinians are unusually, as you say, "lucky")? how many casualties in the next 5 years would israel incur if they remained in gaza? many, many more i would think. israel tends to wait until after a "red line" is crossed, like the pesach massacre of '02. whenever the kassam fire crosses that supposed threshold i'm guessing we'll see that response similar to the jenin incursion. and i doubt israel will do it with the same care as then. israel is more interested in playing international politics, which is why the responses are lazily coming. i disagree with you but only because i believe that israel can, and will, respond to protect herself better now. and i believe that the situation now ultimately will cost israel fewer lives. i was originally against the disengagement for the reasons you mention but i decided the future assured israeli (and palestinian) deaths if israel stayed in gaza was not worth the moral victory. call me what you will but i think the conflict on this front favors israel heavily now. only time will tell if you or i am right. if i'm wrong i'll admit it and change my mind :-)

Mike while you are in America we are here in Israel worrying about when the next Palestinians missiles will hit. Also some of us see things that are not always reported in the media. Sharon and Peres has promised us that by leaving Aza, we will have peace. That has not happen. Thanks to the open border with Egypt, each day the Palestinians missiles are getting more accurate and sophisticated. They are in the process of a reengineering the missiles to be stronger, more powerful, increase range of fire, and more accurate. I don't know what your military background is. The former settlements and military bases in Aza were positions in a way to help defend not only Aza but Southern, Israel from attacks coming from Aza and Egypt. The border with Egypt and Aza which was controlled by us has been handed over to Egypt and the EU. To this day the border is practically open. There have been confirmed cases of 100s of tons of sophisticated military equipment being transferred from Egypt to the PA under the watchful eyes of Egypt and EU. Also terrorist have been traveling back and forth. If we didn’t care about civilian casualties then it matter less if we have bases along the Aza Borders, instead of Egypt. Since Israel is not like any other Army in world we go through great care to minimize civilian casualties from the enemies even at the expense of our own boys. The Palestinians have a habit of using infants and children as human shields for there Snipers. We have strict orders not to return fire, but to stand down. We also don’t do any pre emptive attack against the missiles launchers until after they have been launched. Bottom line Ashkelon has a lot of sensitive facilities, not counting all the Jewish Souls. A day will come when even Sharon will have to say, Stop we can not take it any longer. We will have no choice but to return permanently to Aza. Unfortunately, the Palestinians civilian will pay a very high price in the loss of life. We want Peace Now, The Real Peace.

we actually don't occupy anything. the jews were there long before the muslims originated. israel is today only a quater of the size it should be, so please. "before this changes..." ? nothing will change... and guess who will suffer more...

Let the buffer zone move all the way to Egypt so the Palestinians can go home to Egypt or Jordan/Palestine. Th Palestinians only have themselves to blame. When will the PA live up to its requirements under the road map? Probably never. When will there be a second Arab Palestinian state? Probably never, because their leaders certainly dont want one.

I sincerely hope you're right and I'm wrong!