In her Jerusalem Post column this morning, Caroline Glick renders the judgment that Israel is on the verge of defeat that will produce a lareger war:
THERE IS a palpable sense in Israel that we are on the edge of a revolutionary moment. Our national leadership in the government, the IDF and the media has utterly failed us.
As we stand poised on the edge of an even larger war, the main question that hangs in the balance is what lessons the Israeli people will take from the current fiasco. Will we continue to believe their fictions, or will we find a way to abandon them and move on with leaders who understand that territory is vital, that the jihad is real, that Israel has a right to defensible borders, and that Israel is not to blame for our enemies’ hatred?
Anne Bayefsky’s NRO column outlines the elements of the diplomatic defeat that are to follow Israel’s current military failure. In the New York Sun, Eli Lake updates the diplomatic/military developments in “Israel stays its hand to give talks a chance.” They seem to substantiate Glick’s forebodings. Lake writes:
Israel now appears to be seeking to accomplish through diplomacy what its military so far has been unable or unwilling to accomplish on the battle field. The predicament is usually one associated with the Arabs when fighting Israel. And the confidence Israel’s leaders are placing on a multinational force and a U.N. cease-fire to protect the country from Hezbollah has drawn loud protests from Israeli politicians.
Lake quotes Defense Minister Amir Peretz speaking in the Knesset yesterday: “I gave an order that, if within the coming days the diplomatic process does not reach a conclusion, Israeli forces will carry out the operations necessary to take control of Katyusha rocket-launching sites in every location.” It is a quote that lends weight to Glick’s harsh judgment on the failure of Israeli leadership.
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