At least an article that makes sense. Some reactions are truly frightening. Do people really think that they will get rid of the Pals by killing 1.5 million of them ? Don't you have understood anything from the Shoah ? Don't you think there is something else than the military ? The fact that we are under the rockets is sad enough, reacting like a 5-year old kid won't help -- no, sorry not even a 5-year old kid would react like this.

And sometimes restraint is bad or unhelpful. It takes a wise man to know when to be restrained ....and when not to be restrained.

haber is a pessamist who drags the nation down. So according to him, restrained leadership would have been better in fighting israel?? or perhaps israel should have waited longer in the 6 day or yom kippur war. haber, hand the keys over to haniyeh and move to new jersey. In the middle east, you have to fight and have wars to survive. You don't like it, get out. Your heros olmert screwed up the hezbollah war and barak was a disaster as Pm and not great at defense which is why hamas kept getting better terms. Bibi is very weak and hesitant and is only held up by yaalon and threates from bennett and leiberman. That he looks to herzog for a coalition shows how bloody weak he is . herzog is a security disaster.

this is bad news for both parties and the worst approach to the Palestinians' problems. liberation from the conservative judaism and islam is needed. europe has been liberated from the catholic - protestant christianity, while judaism was wiped out. the middle east can do it with less pain. the recipe is atheism. enlightenment. religion of freedom. religion of reason.

olmert was very restrained, committed too few troops in direct assault only late in the game to disastrous resultss. there would be no israel if haber, barnea, haaretz writers were the guys on the front lines. a smart gaza land invasion is necessary but idf has to fight dirty. it could have stopped or reduced rocket fire into gaza if it had fired terror rockets into gaza but no, the jews can't do what is necessary to defend themselves since the gutless ashton and europeans along with O pressure israel at everty turn. The gaza population is not innnocent here as they support adn encourage hamas. Haber continues to be pathetic and one wonders what rabin saw in him

Yo , more rap crap ,don't fall in to my trap old chap... Don't be too much restrains,when its rains , rockets, money in yo pockets. It pains, to be so restrained , nothing to be gained ,cause the rain in spain falls mainly on the restrained plains , when you are repeatedly hit ,don't take no shit .

... by Israel, near-total vanquishment of Hamas IS actually feasible. If Israel is willing to take on that very difficult task (urban warfare), a great majority of Hamas' heavy weaponry (missiles) could be destroyed. Next step would be to permanently seal the 4th side of the Strip: i.e. Philadelphi route. No more tunnels, no re-stocking of missiles & other weaponry. Without its armaments, Hamas will be worthless. Potential heavy military, civilian & diplomatic cost to Israel of such action? Probably. But do you want an end to chronic missile attacks - and permanently eliminate the threat from the south? This is the price to be paid. But unlike most other situations Eitan refers to here, Gaza IS feasible. Meanwhile, next time, do NOT allow 10,000 missiles to slip in over the years ...

The Uncertainty Princible is likely Endless but a Diplomatic Resolution seems impossible as of now a civil war would occur amongst the Jews and Arabs .Even the Cold War has not resolved so clearly .Being Jewish being Human you are stuck with it .Israel may be pushed to going all out the Indignation of a history of wars Shoahs Pogroms may Drive the Jews into the Armageddon mode.

Deal them a death-blow and the war is over forever

The more rockets we receive and don't respond the stronger we become (we might have to live on the streets, those who remain alive) but hey, political correctness of today is 'de rigueur'. I must be living in lala land together with Haber.

I see choices, not dilemmas. We can put an end to the endless terrorism, for good. We drop one nuclear weapon on Gaza, and one on south Lebanon. No one is going to applaud it, but they won't stop us. It certainly beats having to dodge missiles and mortars on a regular basis. And since the international community will not be happy unless Israel chooses to roll over and die, the opinion of the international community is not worth considering. Say, isn't that how the United States put an end to war with Japan? So there is precedent ....

At a time when Israel is turning to fascism, Mr. Haber is one of the few sounds of journalistic sanity outside of Haaretz.

We have to start every two years a new war, because we didn't finish yet even one of them with a surrender of the enemy. Let them pay a really heavy price once, so that they will think twice in the future to fire missiles again. When the allies would have treated Germany like we the Pals, WWII would still not be over.

it's with the government of Israel. We need leaders who go to the source, the root of the problem, like they did in the 6 day war. Tunnels, cells and buildings are innocent. They did nothing wrong and shouldn't get punished. It's the terrorists behind those tunnels, cell and buildings whom Israel should aim for EVEN IF IT MEANS killing civilians in the process. Civilians hiding terrorists are accomplices to the crime and may certainly be killed along with the terrorists in a time of war.

Hey m, pitching a tent in your local park can be done when your home is bombed to smithereens. Remember it's summer. What joy!

Ok then, what do you advise our government do in this case? Allow the rockets to continue flying into Israel? not reacting? Laying down & playing dead? Huh?

Throwing an atom bomb in Gaza and one in South Lebanon? How about the radiation effects in Israel's population. I think this time you went overboard. There might be other ways to obliterate them, like with laser technology weapons.

"There is no substitute for victory" (General George Patton) The author is clearly wrong. The resounding WW II Allies' victory over the Axis Powers brought permanent peace to Europe and Asia. Likewise, total Israeli victory over "palestinians", and mass "palestinian" departure from our land, is the only true path to peace.

It never will end with the Palestinians, Eitan. Sadat warned Begin in the late 1970s that the Palestinian problem must be solved. Neither Begin nor other leaders listened. It's good to see you writing. Richard