You don't seem to understand that Hezbullah is your cuban missile crisis because the day WILL come when they are armed with WMDs and they WILL use them. Arabs WILL continue to abduct and kill Israelis without a message of deterrence. The Arabs are fed up with you but you are fed up with war. That's really a problem because your millions of enemies clearly are not. Hezbullah is 10x the power they were and they will be 10x what they are now soon if they are not stopped. Yours is the language of defeat. I suggest you leave Israel. Your spirit is broken.

It's easy for me to criticize as I sit here in my comfortable home in America, but the author is right: Israel's leaders have failed her. Instead of being steady, strong, wise, and decisive in their leadership, Israel's leaders have become distracted by internal squabbles. Peretz as defense minister? What a joke. It's not racist to say that the Arabs prey on weakness: The Hezboallah kidnapping was a provocation in the planning for months, and Israel let it's guard down. And while Abu Mazen isn't exactly Mother Teresa, why DIDN'T Israel support him- especially as Hamas rose? The author asks the very tough questions which the Israeli public is now (hopefully) asking itself. If we all make it out of this current madness, that is. AM ISRAEL CHAI!

It amazes me to see how some people other than myself think. It is interesting for me to see how people think the situation should be handled. I hear a lot of criticism, but I don't see any alternative options. Anyone who truly believes that these people will go away if Israel plays nice is fooling themselves. Trust me, I wish that was the case. It is not the case though. I am curious to know how things would have turned out over here in the states if the southern confederacy, after being crushed and the south left in ruins, would have began taking hostages and blowing up northern targets. Thankfully for me (being American) I don't have to experience that answer. The south found itself in total poverty after a tremendously destructive war. No excuses though. The people in the south, although they carried great hatred for the north, began to rebuild and move on with their lives. I wish that the palestinians would learn this lesson and pursue a path of true peace and freedom for their future. What a shame that the other Arab countries don't truly care about them, but just about the total destruction of Israel.

agree.Israel is leading the most unnecessary reaction so far which will only bring death to Israelis and Arab.The 1st mistake was commited when Hamas abducted the Israeli Soldier and her unnecessary reaction ignited Hizbollah's reaction which is bringing more fire and death.The whole issue can be solved by releasing the Lebanese and palestinian prisoners that are crowding Israeli prisons and draining the budget.Get real Israel and dont play arrogant .

I believe you are confusing the antibodies with the cancer. It is the cancer that won't give the Israelis the minimum of recognizing their right to exist. That was all that was asked of them. No recognition of right to exist, no land and no peace. There can never be peace between a people that want to live in peace and the other side that is bent on killing them. Basic logic. No other propaganda can change that. By the way, no need to be loved - just left to live.

The Jews should get out of Israel and move back to Portugal where they got kicked out three times in their history. They should also be given back all their money and properties from then. Portugal should also compensate them for all the deaths. I am looking forward to the day. I am sure the Jews will be ready to switch with you, and you can move to Palestine.

Your last sentence, "I am still unable to fathom why civilians are being targetted by Israeli fighters. *sigh* " made me think, and I figured it out. It must be a typo. I'm sure you meant, "I am still unable to fathom why civilians are being targetted by Hizbullah and Hamas terrorist." When I realized this must be what you meant, your statement made sense to me. Also, the soldiers were kidnapped. They were taken from inside Israel, while not in any kind of battle. Israel was out of GAZA and Lebanon and was under attack in which its civilians were targeted. Get your facts straight and you and I, I'm sure, would agree.

It appears that the Israeli leadership and many of its citizens are suffering from the same disease as many Americans. This disease of, “we must understand our enemies and love them,” is exactly why over two thousand American civilians died in 9/11 and three IDF members are kidnapped. The problem that Israel is suffering from is that it listens too much to the US. Come on Israel come back to reality, we here in the US cannot even control our own borders from invading neighbors from the south and US leadership is telling you how to protect yours. If you listen to us too much you’ll be wearing rags on top of your heads before the sun sets. I hate to say this, but it is true, many in the US political leadership have turned into limp wrested pansies that are more worried about the type of hair conditioner looks best on TV than providing security to the American people. A bit of advice Israel if you want to survive this latest little go round with your enemies don’t listen too much form your big brother across the big pond, but Israel needs to listen to Israel and not to forgot your past. You can beat your enemies but not if you’re giving up the fight before it gets started. Who gives a damn of what world public opinion thinks, this is for your survival Israel not the world’s.

Bemoaning a war that could be 'avoided' is an easy critique when no viable options are proffered. What option? The author ignores the greater distant forces driving this, namely Iran. You think the Lebanese needed this at the height of the tourist season, the first one in which they could have begun rebuilding the economy with? No amount of sophistry, hand-wringing or finger pointing would have changed a damn thing. And that's the terrible truth. As long as NO ONE stands up to the suicidal sociopaths running Iran, we are looking down the barrel of a horrid near-future. Israel cannot do this alone.

I think that it is so easy to judge early in the game, however looking further into the future will show that snap-judgments are naive. If Israel negotiates with kidnappers is it encouraging more kidnappings? If they negotiate, how much is too much to trade for human life, 1 prisoner or 10,000 prisoners? I know what the soldier’s mother would say. While Yigal Sarena brings out some great points, I think her strong opinion needs to take a backseat to her lack of considerations.

Seems that the plan for wiping out the Gaza and Lebanon infrastructure was written prior to Syria leaving Lebanon. It shows up the Israel leadership as idiots doublecrossing a government in Lebanon which was as friendly to Israel as could be expected.

thank you for shedding light on civilian deaths of both sides. i feel sad that some israelians in this talkback think palestinians or lebs for that matter are not humans!!! how can u be so cruel! and quoting golda ... her words are not sent from the sky, she has been more inhumane than what is thought of her. this war has to end, unneccessary, israel can regain the captured israeli soldiers by the us force upon lebanon, but they chose war.

i totally agree

Someone, somewhere, will always hate Jews, black, white, Mexicans, gays, etc… and they always gonna be waiting for a chance to act upon their hate. But those are the few. The most, no matter what are their religion, ideologies or feelings would just like to go on with their daily life in peace. Israel should stop given excuses to the few Arabs who use these excuses to get the compassion of most Arabs. Having Lebanese prisoners after 6 years of Israel withdraw from Lebanon gave Hizbolah an excuse for its latest act and no Lebanese can argue with Hizbola the right for these prisoners to be back home. Launching a massive war against Lebanon has only strengthened Hizbola. Because, Lebanese were forced to take side, and it could not be other then the Lebanese side, although, the majority of Lebanese do not agree with Hizbola acts. I believe that both Arabs and Jews are tiered of these unnecessary wars that only benefit the few who are behind these wars. And if Israel really believes that war is the solution for the Arab-Israel conflict then let it nuke every Arabic city and let us all rest. Otherwise, let us learn to live next to each other in peace because neither Jews nor Arabs are going anywhere soon.

The author's writing style is funny in the following respects: "Now, too." This is not a sentence, and shouldn't end in a period. Try a semicolon. "We are facing a wholly extraneous war." When rockets are falling on Ashkelon and Nahariya - there can be no credible claim that the war is "wholly extraneous." "The July, 2006 war was followed by elections . . ." The war hasn't hardly started yet, and it certainly hasn't ended. How, then, could it be FOLLOWED by an election already, when there haven't been elections yet either? "The crushing of Beirut and the destruction of Nahariya will be the most unnecessary war we've ever fought. " Wait a minute: Beirut has been ruffled up, but hardly crushed. Likewise, Nahariya hasn't been destroyed yet. Is the author making a prediction, or does he/she view himself/herself as a prophet? "Every thing that happens could have been predicted and prevented, if only we'd had experienced politicians to act alongside restrained Americans." Yes, rockets from Hamas and Hezbollah and the consequent punitive excursions were predictable. But were they really preventable short of killing all terrorists and their sympathizers in their sleep? "[R]estrained Americans"? To which "restrained Americans" were you referring here? This is an obvious reference to the tradition of "restraint" in the school of John Wayne and Errol Flynn. "We pulled out of Gaza unilaterally and left Gaza a wasteland." This is like saying "We pulled our of the Sinai and left it a desert." "Instead of negotiations, patience and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, our forces have killed about 100 Gazans over the last month, . . . " Does this mean the author would have preferred to have the IDF kill "negotiations," "patience," and "Hozni Mubarak" to the 100 Gazans. If not, then hie thee to an editor henceforth. "The reaction came as a boomerang from Lebanon, the only Arab country with a strong, effective army, that came along and humiliated the IDF by hitting a weak spot. " Whoa, Nelly. Lebanon's army had nothing to do with this. Hezbollah attacked, and Hezbollah is not the Lebanese Army (although it could probably best the Lebanese Army in battle). And I think that both Egypt and Saudi Arabia would probably take umbrage at having their armies unfavorably compared to Lebanon's. "All the gains from the Lebanon and Gaza were lost in the blink of an eye." Didn't the author nearly begin the article with the claim that, "Gaza and Lebanon are traps we return to periodically"? So, which gains did the author have in mind? Was it staying out of the traps, making them better traps, or, perhaps, making them worse ones? In California, young people smoke marijuana to get dizzy and disoriented. What do they smoke or eat or drink in Israel to get these effects?

WE JEWS AND LEBANESE ARE NOT OBLYED TO LIVE CLOSE ONE TO THE OTHER HERE IN MY COUNTRY. BUT IT JUST HAPPENS THAT WE ARE ALWAYS TOGETHER, IN MEDICINE, BUSINESS, INTELECTUALITY, FRIENDSHIP, POLITICS AND EVEN GETTING MARRIED AMONG BOTH OF US. YOU ARE NO DOUBTS THE BEST HUMAN CONTRIBUTION TO MY COUNTRY. I HOPE SOON THE ISRAELIS WILL BE ABLE TO HAVE SUCH A GOLDEN OPORTUNITY TO BE IN FRIENDLY TOUCH WITH YOU.SOME OTHER BRASILIANS MAY EVEN RESPECT US, JEWS, AS MUCH AS YOU DO. BUT CERTAINLY NO ONE WILL RESPECT US MORE THAN YOU DO HERE. AND IT'S VERY GENEROUS FROM TOU SINCE LEBANON HAS BEEN PRACTICALLY ONLY A VICTIM IN THE MEADLE EAST CONFLICT. I DEEPLE REGRET YOUR LOSSES IN THIS VERY MOMENT. IT HURTS ME PERSONALLY, AND ALL THE BRASILIAN JEWS, BELIEVE ME.

I'm seeing more of these articles in Y-Net and Haaretz. If this is what more and more Jews are becoming like, I might as well find a religion with a back bone and join it. My mother didn't go through Aushwitz so you you types who have it so good can just throw away thousands of years of a successful heritage. ASHAMED OF YOU IGNORANT NEO JEWS.

Well put. It could not have been said better. I don't even need to post anything further on this one. You're a very funny guy, we should get together for lunch.

THE CONCEPT OF "RESTRAINT" IS STRENGTH HAS PROVED FATAL.THIS HYBRID ISRAEL CITIZEN HAS HER HEAD STUCK WHERE THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE.ENOUGH APPEASEMENT-NEVER AGAIN! THE WORLD IS FIGHTING AGAINST ISLAMOFASCIST MURDERING (RELIGIOUS BIGOTS)>IF YOU AS CITIZEN OF ISRAEL DO NOT SEE IT,GOD HELP YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

never in my life did I imagine myself logging on to an israeli website to get a glimpse of my fading future. it has been a tough couple of years for us here, ever since our most beloved rafik harriri was brutally sent to his fate. we took to the streets of beirut to avenge his soul in the most peaceful revolution. we knew that our last pitfall to cross was to find a way to embrace the very problematic issue of hizbollah arms. we had to come to admire this party or militia as you call it over the years because they were the only line of defence against the angry israeli strikes. our people and yours have never seen eye to eye and hizbollah was our only guard for decades. but there came a time where the lebanese people knew that the curtain had to come down... we knew it was time for hizbollah to lay down their arms... and we asked for it and demanded it even more than you did... we thought that it was time to live in peace. all we wanted was for samir kuntar to come home from his 30-year capture in israel.. your government refused. it was your government that pushed hizbollah into action again... should we fight our own people now, how can I kill my friend and neighbor and co-worker just because he's a shiate? what is it that your country wants a moderate lebanese that knows that hizbollah has to go to do? my people are being killed, should I kill them with you? please tell us how to end this?

I could only read up to the bit about the women and children getting murdered in Gaza. Really. And what about the Israeli's living on the border with Gaza? What about Kassam attacks for 4 years into sovereign undisputed Israeli territory? What about my children experiencing trauma and showing the side-effects of being bombarded day and night? Wake up to the truth. The IDF has never been, and will never be, a war machine bent only upon destruction. Thousands of leaflets are dropped on Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya 24 hours before an incursion by our troups, warning the civilians to evacuate the area. I don't recall receiving a similar warning by Hamas before a Kassam attack. And it is interesting to see that the only readers who agree with this piece of drivel, live outside of Israel. Enough said.

This guy proves that Liberal idiots are drones. Didn't Arafat CROAK more than 2 years ago. I agree. What is this IDIOT trying to say? I guess he is saying that each Israeli family should invite Hezbollah, Hamas and Fatah for dinner??????? and a family massacre afterwards???? What a stupid Bastard.

Sure, reflxion comes after the facts. But we ( opinion)don't know everything to appreciate thoses facts. The libanese newspaper in fench, "L'orient le jour", reports that Moubark was completing an agreement beetween hamas and Israel, Shalit was to be exchanged against many palestinian prisoners. But at the very last moment , hamas stopped negotiating, at this very moment hezb. launched his attack. Israel is pulled foward buy Iran and Syria, through Nasrallah. i think Israel had no strategy the 11,12,13, july. Ynet report israel is stressing in syria throught diplomatic means to disarm hezb, TWO new occurences came showing Israel is not at all controlling the situation. the first : the succesfull shelling of warship. the second : Hezb. succeed all its actions against israel and on his aim to hijacke Lebanon. Conclusion / get ready for a major modern war against Iran and Syria and leave lebanese breath.

Why dont you search for the core of the problem ? The core of the problem is your parasite existence in our region, and the Belfore promise, may he burn in hell. Our actions are justified by your merciless actions. Palestinians are dying day after day, and no one is moving his ass. But if we kidnap a soldier a war is held. Well screw you and you inverted logic. In the end JUSTICE will prevail.

You must be kidding! Soldiers are captured an act of war not while patroling a border . Since when was Israel at war with Lebanon? This sounds, as usual, the left's way to excuse everything the Arabs do. The terorists become friedom fighters the fanatics become militants and the distruction of the World Trade center, while on the TV in front of our eyes - became on CNN "the alleged terorist attack" As for the civilians "targeted" I havn't seen any such thing but maybe you have proof - just give me an example!

Except his own moronic self. What an IDOIT. Right now Isrealis , left and right, are united in our struggle to demolish the Hisbullah animals!!

If the arabs believe that Israel has no deterrent, then Israel and you are finished.

There is nothing we can do to soothe or support the terrorists!!! When we're nice they want to kill us and when we're strong they want to kill us. Reason is not a strong point in the lands of our enemies.

TT right on what other place on earth has received so much aid and attention, it is pathetic the way these arab thugs have squandered chance after chance. I mean lets face it well at least in the US I think that mosyt of the arab leaders come off as a bunch of scumbags who are willing to let their own people suffer as long as their egos get suffciently stroked. Finally how much brains does it take to antagonize countries that for all intents and purposes is living in another world as far as science and engineering

First off, why is a Jew who criticizes Israeli policy immediately branded as "self-hating," or anti-Israeli? And where are the pragmatists? The problem with Israel's offensive in Lebanon, like the U.S.'s misadventure in Iraq, is that *it will not work*! Will Israel's security be improved by this effort? I think not. All that will happen is that anti-Israeli feeling will be strengthened throughout the Muslim world, and in most of the West. Also, in terms of proportionality, Israel's efforts to avenge the loss of several of its soldiers by inflicting such widespread pain and death cannot be justified.