Israel lost greatly by not showing more restraint in Lebanon in 2006. I can tell you that even Christians, such as a newspaper editor I correspond with, who should be Israel`s natural allies against the Muslims they`re afraid will swamp them, no longer like Israel because of the bombing it did in their country. IAF didn`t just bomb Hezbollah, but destroyed infrastructure even in Christian areas. Support for Hezbollah increased dramatically because of IAF bombing and hatred of Israel also rose.
Israel is in danger of making a similar mistake in Gaza. The real worry, though, is not what happens to Palestinian support for Hamas, but what happens to opinion in other Arab countries. Will the people rise up and throw out that playboy king who rules east of the Jordan or maybe even the dictator to the southwest? |
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