You can't just kill 20 innocent civilians in Beit Hanun and say: "Oops, we made a mistake. We're sorry." You can't. You simply can't. At the very least, the prime minister should appeal personally to the victims and the Palestinian people and express regret, offer compensation and request absolution. At the very least, the defense minister should declare that the catastrophe was the result of a rash policy for which he takes full responsibility. At the very least, there should be an announcement that the evil artillery shelling will cease.

Anything less is unacceptable. Anything less is inhuman and un-Jewish and inconceivable. Inconceivable? In the land of hollow leadership, anything is possible, anything goes.

It is inconceivable to fail in war and to remain in one's post, and sweep things under the carpet. It is inconceivable, simply inconceivable. At the very least, there should be a whole new approach - if not an immediate replacement of the leadership in its entirety, then at least a different program. At the very least, there should be the establishment of a national emergency government comprising worthy and capable individuals of stature. At the very least, there should be an amendment in the decision-making mechanism when it comes to national security, and the army should be embodied with a new spirit. At the very least, the nation should be offered a new ethos and all its resources should be amassed ahead of the challenges of the near future.

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Anything less is unacceptable. Anything less is un-Zionist, un-Israeli and inconceivable. Inconceivable? In the land of hollow leadership, anything is possible, anything goes.

It is inconceivable to see a war approaching - and fail to take action. It is inconceivable to understand that the failure of the 2006 war brings the 2007 war closer - and fail to do anything about it. It is inconceivable, simply inconceivable. At the very least, there should be a repeat of what Israel did immediately after the beating it took in the Yom Kippur War: a rebuilding of the army in record time, and the initiation of a political process without delay. At the very least, the Syrians and Palestinians should be brought face-to-face with a terrifying deterrent force, and offered the alternative of a meaningful process of dialogue. At the very least, there should be no provoking or striking out, and the neighbors should be confronted with a big stick and soft words.

Anything less is unacceptable. Anything less is immoral, irresponsible and inconceivable. Inconceivable? In the land of hollow leadership, anything is possible, anything goes.

It is inconceivable to allow the State of Israel to become a state of rot - and to remain silent. It is inconceivable, simply inconceivable. At the very least, a man who is essentially a mega wheeler-dealer should not be allowed to be prime minister. At the very least, there should be public backing for the decent members of the civil service who are trying to stop the mega wheeler-dealer in his tracks. At the very least, the colleagues of the mega wheeler-dealer among the Israeli leadership should refrain from giving him their support and should lower their eyes and keep quiet. At the very least, the Israeli public should bear aloft the handful of decent individuals at the treasury, the State Comptroller's Office, the police, the State Prosecutor's Office and the office of the attorney general, who are now facing the supreme test of the fight against corruption.

Anything less is unacceptable. Anything less is inconceivable. Inconceivable? In the land of hollow elite, anything is possible, anything goes.

The historians won't believe it. They will watch the farcical programs that our television channels aired at these times and they won't believe it. They will read the spin that filled some of our newspapers these days and they won't believe it. They won't be able to comprehend how, with the writing so clearly on the wall, Israel's best agreed to collaborate with the corrupt, the corrupter and the wanton. Where were the media, they will ask. Where was the spirit? Where was the wealth? Where were we all when anything and everything was possible?