[brraverishhh]

My fear is that Ariel Sharon wants to shake the militant Islamic charge that he is a "war criminal." So he wants to be remembered as showing restraint. Unfortunately, Israel can't afford that anymore.

I want to suggest something that many people may find abhorrent... but I think it may be a necessary option. (Though I think it is extremely unlikely.) Maybe what Israel needs right now is a military coup.

Let the IDF take over. Then every decision will be based on winning the war. No more worrying about diplomacy. No more worrying about trade. None of these things matter if you are dead, anyway.

Look at Mussharef in Pakistan. The US doesn't have any trouble dealing with him, though he came to power through a coup.

Am I crazy? What good is a gov't that refuses to "get" that militant Islam doesn't want a cease fire with Israel, they want (as Netanyahu would say) a cease fire without Israel.

Please, someone tell me why I shouldn't think a military coup would be the best thing for Israel right now. Never thought I would even come close to thinking such a thing...

[TorryJens]

Originally posted by ibrodsky
Today may have been a turning point. The Arab Summit has been a complete failure: only half of the Arab leaders showed up, and both the Palestinians and some Saudis have reportedly left.

And today, one of Arafat's terrorists has killed at least 15 Israelis -- with many in critical condition. The final death toll could exceed 20.

Should Israel end its policy of restraint? Should Israel prosecute this war to the fullest? I am starting to think the very same thing.

Unless Israel goes about the business of saving its own people through any means necessary, the world would be pleased to keep quiet while thousands, perhaps evetually millions of Israelis are slaughtered in the streets of the Jewish homeland.

Already Israelis are hostages to the fear of Islamic terrorism in their own land, like much of the rest of the world. Life is no longer anything even close to normal and every day the dead are piling up and the wounded are overwhelming hospitals in all major Israeli cities.

Yet, time and time again, no matter what the Arab attrocity against the Jews might be, and no matter how many dead Israelis line the streets, the "civilized" world makes sure that Israel is forcibly prevented from defending its own citizens and putting an end to Islamic terrorism.

I hope that the Israeli government will finally understand that the rest of the world's opinions on Israeli restraint are simply not nearly as important as survival.

It's not a question of whether to start a full-scale war against the Palestinians, but how to respond to the full-scale war that the Palestinians have started already.

[softy54534]

Originally posted by ibrodsky
I think the problem is that making Netanyahu PM will require a new Knesset. Am I correct?

Do others feel Netanyahu is the best man for the job? Netanyahu is definitely the best man for conducting a military campaign that will serve as a deterrent to the Arabs. He is also the best man for Israeli PR and mass media representation.

But he is not the best man to get through the impossible maze of Israeli inter-party politics, where the system lets his political opponents constantly threaten to bring down the government, as they did during his last tenure.

Despite his political trials and tribulations, if Israelis went to the polls now, analysts predict that Netanyahu would stand a very good chance of defeating Sharon for the position of PM.

But the mechanism for Israeli elections is very time-consuming and cumbersome. The quickest I remember elections being conducted was 90 days after a no-confidence vote was cast. And even after the election, there is an extended period of political horse-trading that takes place to form a ruling coalition.

Netanyahu would not be required to swap out the knesset, per se, but in practice he would need to put together a coalition government that would be, IMO, very different than Sharon's today. The players would be reshuffled. I would be shocked if the process would take less than 120 days to complete.

But for the time being, there hasn't even been a no-confidence vote cast, so it looks like Sharon will remain in office for the time being. I hope he is able to break free of the US and EU pressures on him not to defend Israel.

[S.T.D.]

Originally posted by alexbmn

Do these sound like the words of government who is ready to wage a decisive war against murderous enemy and to protect its people? If there is any place on earth where Jews are still enslaved, that is Israel Only there are women and children are murdered with impunity and the negotiaions are held with their murderers. Sorry to say that you're right about this.

I don't think that the Israeli government truly understands that it is already at war and needs to start shooting back immediately before there is no more nation to defend.

[softy54534]

Do you honestly think that a death of mere 15 Jews would mean that that the country has reached turning point? How are they different from the hundredh that were murdered in the previous 18 months. No my friends the oucome is quite a bit more pessimistic then you realize. Just look at some of the quotes made by memebrs of the Israeli government today.

Raanan Gissin, a Sharon adviser, said the attack "will require us to reevaluate our overall policy."

"We are still working to achieve a cease-fire to which we are fully committed, but if the Palestinians have decided to choose the road of terrorism ... then we have to decide what measures we will take," Gissin said.

Do these sound like the words of government who is ready to wage a decisive war against murderous enemy and to protect its people? If there is any place on earth where Jews are still enslaved, that is Israel Only there are women and children are murdered with impunity and the negotiaions are held with their murderers.

[S.T.D.]

Originally posted by L@mplighterM
How many times have we heard from the US administration that “Arafat must do better”?

Check the closest following number:

[] 10 TIMES [] 100 TIMES [] 500 TIMES [] 1000 TIMES No doubt it's closer to 1000 and can go on forever unless Israel ignores the US pressure and takes care of business the way they know how.

In the long-run, the US interests will be much better served by Israel destroying the terrorist infrastructure that threatens both Israel and the US.