before u were fired. It would have had a tremendous impact on yo political future. U now would be a consensus both from left and right-known as a person of principles and convictions who is willing to sacrifice his carreer. But now boogie dear-all u r is a fired general and no matter what u will say u will be percieved as such-a grumpling whiner.

your line of thought was becoming very intriguing. It is true that the idea of a two-state solution has been discredited by the Palestinians themselves, both by their words and their actions. One only has to look at the history of the conflict to prove that. The hope lies in bypassing the current government and talking straight to the Israeli public. They are smart. All they need is a voice they can trust to represent their true feelings and understanding of the situation. I would urge you to be relentless in communicating your message. However, why stop with the grounding of the "two-state solution discourse"? People need a vision, Mr Yaalon, no matter how difficult it may seem. Hasn't Israel overcome incredible obstacles already? Since the two-state solution is not a viable answer anymore, what's left is a more complex diplomatic effort to involve other Arab countries in the absorption of the Palestinian population. The US still has considerable clout in the Middle East. It has almost complete control of Israel, although that's part of the problem. But the US could use its influence to solve, once and for all, this festering problem. As a consequence of peace treaties with Israel, the US still gives economic assistance to Jordan and Egypt. Why not use that, and expand it to press for their cooperation in the integration of Palestinians into those countries? Furthermore, Palestinian emigration should be encouraged and supported. So far it has been mostly blocked by other Arab countries and only a small number of Palestinians has made it to Western countries. The US should work with its allies to stop all Arab migration into the West until the Arabs open their doors to Palestinian migrants. That cluster of violent leaders and a hopeless population has to be broken up. It has nothing to offer to anyone, be it the Palestinian people or neighboring countries. It is ironic how much money the US has spent in Iraq with no positive results, when it could have used it to solve the Palestinian problem, which they blame - although incorrectly - for all the Arab discontent in the world. Mr Yaalon, please, continue with your message. You are one of the few voices of reason and true patriotism among Israeli leaders.

What solution, exactly, is this man suggesting, other than what I -probably erroneously - read between the lines?

A sane man of stature. The only one on the horizon. May he rise to power and maintain his integrity and his principles. It may be Israel's last chance to pull back from the brink.

Why,why Moshe Dayan gave to arabs the keys of what Jews have been longing for 2000 years and was won then:the Temple of Mount and the Tomb of our Patriarchs-our origin.Why? Moshe Dayan was stupid or what? They win to lose???????????????? They were so excited about the victory that they lost the capability of thinking? What happened to such an idiocy to happen? The donation of that KEY was indeed very symbolic .We should think about that stupid act! Are we so naive?

mr.yyalon has the credentials and background ,not to mention the intellect, to lead isreal from this brink of dissater that is looming. i can see him teaming up with barak , ayalon and netanyahu to form a wide spectrumed govt. that will address the following--- 1) graze gaza to miniscule dust 2) turn s.lebanon to hizbulla -free zone. 3) surprise attack iran's military and nuclear facilties. no need to wait for the u.s 4) bomb demascus on the way to iran 5) assisnate all of hamas ,islamic jihad heads, one by one. 6) make abu mazan an offer he could n't refuse-- leave with all of your tunis gang or die!

Try to internalize and understand what he is saying instead of attacking his character like a dim-whit.

Ya'alon is brilliant is his analysis and assessment of the situation. It takes knowedgeable leaders like him to know what Israel is facing. It is time for Israelis to be educated of the situation they are in and not fall for the craps of the dark forces who are trying to usurp Israel from the Jews by way of deceptions, manipulations and terrorisms.

B"H The core of the two-state dialogue is that for Israel to live in peace, it needs to expel those who are bent on military destruction of the government or otherwise remove the threat. The thought is that these people cannot peacefully live within the Israeli society so they need to be separated from it to reduce violence. It is like Abraham and Lot. Lot's shepards are arguing with Abraham. Abraham tells Lot that he can pick to go west or east but they cannot be in the same place because of the disputes that constantly arise. The frightful fact is that there is no truly cooperative Arab state on the core issues of normalized relations to the point that people can emmigrate out of Israel and go to these other states to live as residents or even citizens. So Israel is creating the "friendly" Arab state that is not to be found anywhere else to put these people and separate them out from Israel so they can face their choices and their future without destroying Israel in the process. The difficulty with this approach is that these people simply are not ready for a state. They are ruled externally by Iran that imports large amounts of weapons and through Hamas which has its core outside of Israel and does not face direct consequences for not feeding and caring for the population. Hamas moreover is not friendly to the concept of two states; rather it is hired by Iran to instead take over Israel. It boils downto not worrying about two states until there is recognition of Israel as one of those states and normalized relations with that one state. That is the paradox that Israel has run into. There is talk of two states when one state is not even recognized by Hamas. It is a nonstarter of a position because of the leadership that heads the Arab side through not pure democracy, but rather through military force and military power based out of foreign regimes.

the birth of a shining star

Gen. Yaalon's analysis of the problem was excellent. What was missing was a prescription for a solution. I hope we receive the solution soon.

marx's famous dictum about history repeating itself first as tragedy then as farce is given new surreal meaning by boogie who cannot even clearly articulate a direction let alone a strategy. so what's his alternative? perpetual war? conquest and expulsion? all hail our new Ghandi, our new Arik... our new zeolots searching for their Massada...may hashem save us from such madness.

"Grounding the 'two state solution' discourse to a halt among the Israeli public and the international arena is a prerequisite for encouraging a new direction of thought with regards to the conflict and possible ways of resolving it" We do not need the moron to tell us what not to do, but rather what he means by a "new direction of thought" and "possible ways of resolving" the conflict". Maybe the fascist pig within him is too inhibited to openly say "Transfer"

We want a solution to our problems before the last commercial. It leads us to push for any answer, however foolish, just to resolve the stress. The Pals, really the Arabs who created them as a nation, are in no hurry. Our only choice is to say, we will wait too, and build a successful, moral society while they choose to self-destruct. See http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/05/30/just-wait/

what he is leading to. And continuing to speak cryptically, we agree.

If there isn't a 2 state solution, then what are the options. 1) A single state shared by Jews and Palis or 2) a state where the palisitinians assimilate into the jewish identity abandoning all sense of a seperate national identity or 3) encouraged to leave. What option does the author suggest or is he just trying to open the debate?

some problemes have no solutions only not to be a problem .. and you want to make the two state a problem ... yaaleek ya enta

General Yalom is attempting to see the conflict between the Islamic mindset as defined in the recent vote by the Syrians, against governing by democracy. Sadly it is an impossible task as lighting a wood fire under the river. It is simply unachievable, the Islamic ideology places no value to truth or equity, as long as they believe their self delusions, there is no ability to reason with them. Is there any hope that Israel will ever achieve true peace, not if they refuse to think out of the box, as they have imposed upon themselves certain restraints to which no other country is bound by when facing the same situation as Israel is forced to bare. The Bible describing the Exodus from Egypt is giving a partial solution. It relates the ten plagues visited upon the “Civilian Population” when it was only Pharaoh that defied Gods command so why punish the entire population, the answer is any leader that is not supported by the countries population cannot lead. By not disposing of the failed leadership it is tantamount to the population gives their total support the their leader and are subjected to the same punishment due their leaders. The entire world treats the UN with scorn except Israel. To bring some semblance of peace to the cradle of civilization, you must refer to the solutions found in the Bible in how to wage war, yes the world would scream, threaten, impose sanctions, break off relations and who know what other antics they will utilize, but after a while things will revert back to normal but without an entire region continually engulfed in strife

Thank you for finishing Bogi line of thoughts. You have made some excellent points but who is listening? I hope General Yaalon is listening so I can vote for him.

i.e his solution is to consolidate "internal agreement" aound annexation .......i followed his article hoping for creative ideas.....maybe like....one democratic state? a federation? something smart..... he stopped after focusing on the problem... duh? u call this an article? tell me something i don't know.... but clearly his solution is annexation, still i don't understand how this will "resolve" conflict in his own words not extend it if it's not within a democratic context with one person one vote.....

Full Equality In the "holy land" is the ONLY peaceful way out. Otherwise, its a big bloodbath.