they do not yet understand that there is no terror that is permissible. they want to negotiate on their terms but they are in no position to do so, especially with their proposals. they are non-starters for israel and it seems that unilateral disengagement from the west bank will proceed. another opportunity for the palestinians is missed. did we expect something different?

Dicter is right. The Generals know how to deal with the security problem. They should be given a free rein in carrying out their work effectively. Politicians do not know about the tactics of stamping out the terrorist attacks. Hence, in matters pertaining to security, the politicians should leave the Generals to handle it.

First they say retreat,surrender land and there will be peace. Now Dichter awakens to the failure of Israel's fool plan . It's sad to see Israel ruled by such idiots who go around in circles and do not know what they are doing. It's past time to look to Hashem. He will never bless you for the surrender of His land to the Palestinian's and the moslem terrorist

where the displaced persons from last summer can rebuild their lives.

What's someone like you, capable of realism, doing in it? They won't listen to you and you won't have influence. Quit the government, call a press conference, expose finally to the Israeli people what incompetent wimps they've (more or less) elected, try to talk some sense into people. There's not much time left, you know. If Merlot has his way, soon Sderot will look like a picnic compared to the rest of Israel after the "convergence plan" gives the terror organizations a free rein on the hills overlooking the center of the country.

This min.of nothing should be sent packing.peretz you are a disaster to the state of Israel with you pie in the sky promises of new tactics and weapons and whatever. Only by killing a large number of palis will they surrender.

Don't blame Dichter and the Generals. Blame the politicians for the mess up. The politicians tried to play the role of Generals and they overruled the advice of the Generals, hence, they ended having a mess in their hands. It is time the politicians learn their lessons. In matters pertaining to military and security tactics, leave the Generals to do what they do best. The Generals can solve the problem within 24 hours if the politicians don't meddle or mess up their work.

He is already trying to find way to surrender to hamass. The government has become irrelevant and will be replaced soon.

stupid peretz...he don't want to go back to gaza.for the moment he can still say that because of the everyday miracles. quassams fall in fields,parkings,empty homes...but miracles ,unfortunately,wont last for ever.what will peretz do when a quassam will hit a group of teenagers for example?? then mr peretz and all the dreamers(leftists) will understand that attacking from the air is good but not enough.they will understand that they left gaza for nothing and that it didn't bring even a "feeling" of peace.they will understand that they pull out their own brothers from their home for nothing.and,finally,they will realize that it was a mistake to leave gaza because as we say in france:"when the cat is not here,the mouses dance"(the terrorists are quitly preparing the next intifada),so one day,unfortunately tsahal will have to go back there and to remain there.

An act of treason committed in time of war. With massive cuts to Israel's defense, Israel's economic and defense situation is desperate. Why do Israel's leaders want to lose the war? Gulf Times Doha, Qatar Egypt reaps huge benefits from battle over Gaza’s gas Published: Monday, 29 May, 2006, 09:36 AM Doha Time CAIRO: Egypt has unexpectedly reaped huge economic and strategic benefits as a result of an acrimonious battle between Israel, the Palestinians and British Gas over the Gaza Strip’s new-found energy bonanza. After years of secretive horse-trading, Egypt is set to pip Israel at the post to buy gas recently discovered off the shores of the troubled Gaza Strip, now under Palestinian control after the Israeli withdrawal last year. “The Palestinians have some gas resources we are interested in having, and they need money, so we are also working on this project with them,” Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmi told AFP. “It’s a very important issue”. The turnaround came last week when British Gas (BG) broke off protracted talks for the sale of Gaza natural gas to Israel, sparking an outcry there over the billions of dollars the lost contract could cost the state. The British giant, which operates Gaza’s offshore fields, said it would instead sell to Egypt, which wins on all fronts by consolidating its rank of sixth gas exporter in the world and will become Israel’s sole gas provider. Gas is expected to bring a major windfall by 2010 to the embattled Palestinian Authority, which has been desperately seeking cash since the international community protested Hamas’ rise to power this year by freezing aid...

Patriots are extremely rare in Israel's government and leadership.

Whe Israel ruled Gaza nobody heared of any anarchy or lawlessness. Hamas technically didn't exist. I wish Israel would just dissolve the Palestinian Authority and take Gaza and the West Bank again. Everybody will live in peace under one flag.

not once in our history ,were we been led by more idiotic bunch of mororns!

was seen recently at the Knesset pharmacy stocking up on vaseline, he got some for Olmert too. Just to make it easier on them. Now, had that been a months supply of steroids I could perhaps have started to give them some credibility.

mad dogs must be put down.

non-Muslims as well as Israel's Jews. Before the ruthless ethnic Jew cleansing, Islamo-Fascist religious supremacists rained down thousands of rockets and mortars on Gaza's Jewish communities. Impoverished deported Jewish refugees are forced to pay mortgages on their homes that Israel destroyed. The Gaza surrender created Hamastan - a global base for terrorists. Jewish communities bordering Gaza, inside the green line, who thought they were secure, now live under the stress of a daily barrage of rockets from the ethnically Jew cleansed areas of Gaza. Ashkelon's power plant and chemical storage tanks are now vulnerable to Kassam rocket attacks, which if hit, could result in major damage to infrastructure and a large loss of human lives. Israel's leaders reveal their satisfaction with the results of the surrender to religious supremacists by declaring that Judea and Samaria is next. The surrender to the terrorists will place Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport within rocket firing range. Israeli leaders' immorality aids and abetts Islamic terrorism and advances global jihad. Israeli leaders have no right to shirk their responsibility to protect Israelis and the world's non-Muslims.

Let's face it, Israel has won the conflict with the Palestinians, It's countries like Iran that still threaten it's survival....Abbas and Hamas don't. Sure, they can insult Israel, but like an injury, it can be cured. The prison issue is a joke, good for a belly laugh. Why Barghouti wasn't hung is beyond me? Israel needs capital punishment...a 12.00 rope serves lots of purposes. MInimally, he should get solitary (1hr to walk it off, an 8x10 cell, no visiters, and a window 8" by 10 feet long. No communication allowed, no phone calls, no TV. But Israel doesn't need to be drawn into Hezbollahs trap or Hamas for that matter. Putting soldiers in harm's way is also foolish. Israel is doing the right thing....it should remember that events can change abruptly there. Russia could become more involved. So it needs friends. Right now, it is in good shape.

Finally, someone in this idiotic gov't is making sense. Olmert & Co. are a bunch of fools who live in the Land of Oz. To cover up for past mistakes they are willing to repeat the same mistakes, hoping against all odds that it will work this time.

An article in one of Ynets competitors described a poll of Europeans showing that support for the Palestinians has dropped tremendously over the past year. Although support for Israel's position had not improved as much as the loss of support for the Palestinians, the poll results may be significant and it is a shame that this current Israeli govt. doesn't understand the mood and motivation of the international community. Dichter does but his voice is being drowned out by incompetents such as the former union leader, Peretz, who was appointed to his post without any understanding of the basics of his new job. First, although one can argue that Sharon's plan for unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza won some international brownie points, there is no doubt that the Islamic terrorism IN Europe has caused a hardening of European attitudes towards the Palestinians. From the London train bombings to the assassination of Van Gogh to the Danish cartoon reaction of violent Muslims to the riots in Paris, the Europeans have finally understood what Islamic terrorism means to a country. Unfortunately, antisemitism in Europe is still so strong that the loss of support for the Palestinian has not changed to a corresponding support for Israel and it never will. Israel's behavior of sacrificing Israeli lives for "international opinion" has never worked and continued restraint in the face of the rocket onslaught from Gaza will not help Israel to be supported by the international community. Restraint against terorism will only cost Israeli lives.

'Perhaps we should occupy northern Mexico in order to cease the hordes of migrants seeking work.' Israel refuses to abide by international law and absolutely will not listen to any outside criticism. Israel gets away with it because of unchallenged US (fuelled by the Israel lobby, which is an enourmously powerful group of Jewish organisations, wealthy Jews and Evangelicals, AIPAC, and frighteningly hawkish neoconservative organisations) support. If the US hadn't vetoed 32 Security Council resolutions that were critical of Israel, I think today the Middle East might be living in peace. While people are starving in Africa, Hurricane Katrina victims still homeless, and people still putting their lives back together in SE Asia, why does Israel, a wealthy nation, receive 25 per cent of US foriegn aid? And why is Israel the only country that doesn't have to make up for what it buys with that aid? Sadly, US representatives dare not say anything that may be remotely seen as critical of Israel. Surely, they will be met with staunch smear campaigns, and millions will be invested to oust that representative come next election. It's quite sad, Israel is getting away with unsurpassed crimes against humanity, and the world has their hands tied because of blind US support. I hope that one day Americans will realise the toll that supporting Israel has cost them. Unfortunetely, given the mere prowess of the pro-Israel forces in the US government, and the Israel apologists in the media, this seems an to be very unlikely. Only on American universities, where the brightest minds come together, is a fair dialogue concerning Israel seen. However, as of late, the pro-Israel forces have been ardently attempting to silence any criticism of Israel. They have even lobbied a bill that would remove Federal Funding for Universities that teach curriculum that offers an evenhanded approach to Israel's history. Such a tragedy, considering that once America was an admirable nation, where free speech and human rights did abound. But it took a wrong turn, and now seems to be putting the interests of Israel over its own, all the while, Israel is plotting to colonise even more land. What a shame!

dumb,don't compare the mexicans to your friends the pals.the mexicans don't blow themselves up in buses of LA . and by the way ellen,if you love to write so much on ynet,why i don't see your talkback about the britons who can be murdered by your arab friends only because they wear british flag ?i told you before ellen,you can lick their boots as much as you want,for them you're an ennemy just like us little dumb.

Personally I think the IDF should re-occupy all of Gaza. The "PA" is a farce. But.... When the IDF formerly occupied all of Gaza, there were Qassams. So tell me HOW it thinks it can stop them now.

Israelis must work on their memories. Before Kadima existed, Dichter said a Gaza expulsion would be a disaster because of how it would free Gaza "Pals" to attack Israel. Then Sharon formed Kadima, and suddenly Dichter joined. Then Dichter said that the Gaza expulsion was a great success! Violence had gone down! Rocket attacks had gone down! Now, Dichter is saying that Gaza should be "reoccupied" (thus showing that Dichter erroneously believes that Israel "occupies" the land of Israel), because, well, the violence from Gaza has soared! Are Israeli Jews just too dumb to notice such things? I grant that the media in Israel are not free. Still, I can describe this history based solely on Israeli English-language newspaper stories. Surely you (Israeli Jews) can too.

Thanks Linda. Clearly it is impossible to overstate the perfidity of the Israeli government. No corruption is too gross.

I read one of Snaggletooth's talkbacks by mistake (#24) I know she has not an honest bone in her body (she's not even personally decent, as she makes fun of fat people when she herself is a porker), but this is an amazing performance, as there is not a single sentence in the first few paragraphs that either makes sense or is truthful (I did not read beyond these). Consider this joke right at the top: "24. What if the US said... 'Perhaps we should occupy northern Mexico in order to cease [sic] the hordes of migrants seeking work.'" Well now, leaving aside that Mexican illegals do not blow themselves up in falafel stands, and the additional point that Gaza *is* Israel whereas Mexico *is not* the US, Snaggletooth has missed the obvious point here: the US does not have to occupy Mexico to get US borders under control. Clearly, Israel cannot do the same unless it is has control of the land in Gaza. Duh.