The security cabinet's decision to declare Hamas-ruled Gaza a "hostile territory," paving the way for curbs on Israel's supply of electric power and fuel to the million and a half Palestinians of the strip, is the latest evidence that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have adopted ambiguity as their tactical weapon of choice.

Both Olmert, whose effusive declarations at the outset of the Lebanon war would cost him what was left of his credibility, and Barak, for whom overspeak as prime minister also exacted a high political price, have been deafening in their silence on signal defense issues of recent weeks - the reported airstrike on a possible Syrian nuclear installation, and an apparent deadly accident, also in Syria, reportedly involving dozens of Iranian advisors at a chemical weapons facility.

The Wednesday ministerial decision is a model of vigorous ambiguity. Treading gingerly, not least because of the symbolism of the convergence of the Yom Kippur holiday and the sacred Muslim month of Ramadan, the security cabinet was careful to avoid specifying the timing or the extent of the action Israel would take in restricting utility supplies to Gaza.