Israeli spokespersons are often asked: “Is the response of Israel proportional”? Yes, it is. Israel has done everything one may think of to avoid this operation, but without success. The barbarians have continued their attempts to kill innocent Israeli civilians. Now, when we have a proof that nothing except extermination of the barbarian force of the Hammas can help, the question of proportionality has to be directed to the barbarians.

This is what you get from Gaza self rule. Maybe a real solution would be to apply something similar to the formula applied to Israeli Arabs to those in the "territories"

question= how come in 1967 israel was able to defeat three regular armies of syria egypt jordan in 6 short days,and in lebanon and now in gazza they cannot defeat 10,000 terrorists, answer= in 1967 israel was led by loyal patriotic jews who loved their country with all their heart and soul. and were determined to defeat their enemies, but now israel is being led,by criminally insane traitorous self hating leftist pathetic cowards who hate themselves and their own country. and deep down in their heart of hearts do not want to defeat their enemies. people of israel with this kind of leadership you are doomed

The whole tenor of the war campaign now underway continues to show Israels weakness to the enemy. Begging the enemy to stop firing rockets and agree to a cease fire only encourages them to continue the terror. Discord and division in the top leadership continues to haunt Israel like it was in the 2006 Lebanon War. We desperately need better leadership.

''Israel has been restraining itself for years.'' No, Mr Olmert. YOU have been restraining Israel for years. You & the other dolts in your coalition created this situation with disengagment, allowed it to fester & grow by your inaction, & even now, are not whole-heartedly behind achieving any meaningful objectives. Can you tell me why you even considered a 48 hour break? Why was your defense minister wasting hours & hours talking about another truce with Kouchner? Please do not pretend that this is a major military operation. Everyone is not a fool. What have we really accomplished in 4 days of ''fighting''? And this is no criticism of the IDF which operates according to the limits imposed by you, Livni, & Barak. We beat 4 Arab armies in 6 days in case anyone has forgotten.

The message has to be clear !

DESTROY THE ENEMY UTTERLY AND ALL WILL BE QUIET. JEWISH LIVES AND CIVILIANS COME FIRST.

Proportional responses causes a stalemate at best. That's not how you win a war. Israel's goal is to win.

#6 now is not the time for politics. ISrael should stand as one and support the government as we are at war with the hamas. Now is the time for every citizen to do their duty and stand as one nation and not blame Olmert all the time. Kol Hakavod to our leaders at this very time!!! Kol Hakavod to Tzahal!!

Sit on their hands for another 5 years, watch Hamas acquire bigger badder weapons, lose more people lather rinse repeat.

Olmert &Co are faltering and wavering again. This means another Lebanon II , but much worse. The time is NOW for a coup d'etat by the higher command of the IDF. Nothing else will save Israel now.

I can't hear any singing...

There is a difference between Lebanon II and this war. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are so scared of Hamas that they are supporting Israel against the people of Gaza. In the long run, this is not good for Israel but it means that Olmert will do his best to win.

Hamas regime is bringing a Holocaust upon its people. It should eventually understand what it can and cannot do. They are trapped in their crazy ideology that commits them to Israel’s destruction. They know it’s not practical. They know they can’t do it. The solution to their misery is elsewere : they should think about emigrating, discretely, to other Arab countries before it is too late, (most of these countries are not very populated and can easily integrate them). That is the real solution as explained at : http://xrl.us/bi5c8

Terry, I always read your comments because I know you have something to say and you say it clearly. Thank you.

How is proportional defined? It would seem to me that one day of bombing hamas for one day of rockets into Yisrael would be proportional. Not counting of course the days when both occur. So can anyone add that up for me and let me know how many more days will it take to reach this allusive proportional equation?

Proportional could be when you kill to the killers snd their infraestucture, but not when you destroy all the neighborhood and kill also hundreds of children. Proportional response is acceptable., of course. The another, isnt.