Reservists rally in Jerusalem as protests over war snowball

Ask the Mothers of the Soldiers who are return and ask the mothers of the civilist in Lebanon, i don't believe that anyone of them laugh. I think they prey and say thanks to the Almighty. Call him allah, elohim, j*h*w, god or the other title he provides. And do not forget: Thou shalt not kill. Remember who did say these words. Selam, my cousins

The reservists seem to be whining because they didn't do enough damage and weren't told how much they could do. Is that right? Are you guys whining like children because not enough damage was done to Lebanon? How disgusting you are. Israel should not have done this FULL STOP and they have lost more support all over the world from ordinary people than they can even begin to understand. As an example - whereas before 83% of Aussies supported Israel without question, now 83% support the rights of Palestine and turn in disgust and horror from Israel. Was the murder of 1300 innocent Lebanese people worth it or did you all just want to kill more? Hezbollah has only about 2,000 "fighters" who became fighters because Israel stayed for 18 years in Lebanon and killed 22,000 men, women and children for nothing.

Dont blame Haaretz for this, Bravo Brave Soldiers who stood up!

Dear Olmert, The only objective you achieved wasn't on idf's agenda, but on the agenda of Nasralla's-that objective is the ousting of olmert and his profoundly retarded government from leadership positions. He told us that our leaders were "stupid" and he was right. Our soldiers protesting is downright our country's lowest point ever. Yah sure we have an "open dialogue" in this country but it still doesn't hide the fact that we got humiliated in this war and our troops feel betrayed and ill-trained and under-equipped and under-fed. What a sad era in our state.....

"Learn from your mistakes and hear Said Hassan well when he said at the beginning of the war that your stupid government doesn`t know where its taking its people." I really don't think you have any idea what Said Hassan got your country into, when he decided to attack Israel on the assumption that Israeli society is too weak to deal with Hizbullah. Now you have Nasrallah, and you are stuck with him. Fortunately, Israel can change its leaders and find the right way to deal with Hizbullah, and it will, don't worry about that. Pity that Hizbullah is hiding the truth from you about how many fighters it lost. In this case, ignorance definitely is not bliss.

"By the way, Lebanon never attacked Israel in any of the Arab/Israeli wars. The only time attacks were launched from Lebanon was in the civil war and they were by Pals" Wrong answer, Lebanon invaded Israel in 1948, under Syrian pressure. They were part of the Arab invading forces. Sorry. And by the way, Lebanon absolutely are Arabs. Better read the Taif Accords if you don't agree.

According to George Bush, Israel won the war, but at what cost? Yes, it appears more devastation was inflicted on Lebanon and its people but next time, Israel should think twice about taking on Hezbollah.

If Israel wanted to wipe out Hezbollah, they could have if they did not care about innocent Arab life. Why do the Arabs keep saying they won? So next time the Israelis go to the next level of destruction? Israelis are Doctors and business people. Shia in Lebanon study suicide tactics.Shia should win miltary conflicts as Israelis are focused on life and creation, and Shia on death. That is their specialty. Life has defeated the Shia. Its' too late for the Israelies to do it.

I appreciate, as an American Jew, your comments. If every Arab/Moslem was like you, I would defend Arab rights against any Jew/Israeli. The problem is that many Arabs hate Israelis/Jews so much, that Jews are scared to risk ourselves in trying to get closer to the Arab population.

This war didn't have to be. There were peaceful alternatives. Alternatives that might have saved lives, reduced destruction, and accomplished more. Why where they not pursued? Why the rush to war? Hizbollah was not going anywhere. Send the leaders home for making war. Send them home before they start another one. Give them new jobs. Have them send time with the families who lost loved ones.

Like the rapist blaming the tight jeans the victim owre, some posters are quick to place the blame in any palce but the right place. Thanks to a neo-con agenda that cannot see the forest because of the trees, Israelis are being deluded into thinking they are "infallible" when it comes to war....and this 30 plus day conflict showed just how deluded Israel and its supporters really are. One last point....why is all this fuss being made about the French...they play hot and cold all the time...and can be likened to a whore that sleeps with one man but refuses to sleep with another on some flimsy ground...

Joe, what you are telling is complete bullshit. The soldier can not move from the border or to the border without the order of his commander. It's the army, not an uncontrolled militia. What did you expect the soldiers would have done? Conduct the war the way they wanted to? Their complaints are also reasonable. Israel has enough money to supply the army with food and water, and it has nothing to do with Hezbullah and their so-called "victory". By the way, I cannot really see who lost and who won. Neither reached their goals.

Hezbollah's victory is essentially symbolic, even Pyrrhic in nature--they get to shout boasts southward while picking through the rubble. What fun. No, based on what's happening in Israel politically now and with worse obviously to come, I would venture to guess that the biggest winners of this conflict will not be Hezbollah, Nasrallah, Syria, or Iran. They will be Israel's far right and religious parties. For Netanyahu, Liberman, Feiglin, and their ilk Lebanon '06 is like manna from heaven. They must be salivating. The nation's left and moderates are paralyzed by the results of the conflict thereby ceding them the stage by default.

Ohlmert , Peretz and Haluts are not fit to hold any Leadership in Israel or least the IDF ... my son is in Golani , and their shameful indecisiveness can only be construed of three jobnicks , technocrats who have no courage to lead ... they must GO , they have blood in their hands ... BECAUSE OF THEM INNOCENT PEOPLE , WOMEN, CHILDREN AND BRAVE SOLDIERS DIED IN VAIN....

new elections now.each day when new things are opened to the public opinion,the need of a confirmation or a reject of the actual leadership is absolutely demanded.

Finally, a group of brave reservists and their families demostrates sanity, some thing that them lack to its leaders.

Answers are needed as to why there was so much poor leadership from the Leaders of Israel. The IDF is among the finest in the world. There was no reason for the stated objectives not to be met. Its time for the Elite to step forward answer the call of God's people.

Awww stop whining will you? Jeez.. Stop blaming our leaders. It's not their fault you lost, it's your fault. It's not the leadership that told you to runaway from the frontlines. You didn't have enough equipment? What about the other side? We had tanks, apaches, f16's and a whole array of other equiptment that the enemy didn't have. Our helicopters could drop weapons and food to the frontlines-i can't say the same about the other side. B4 olmert faces up to his responsibilities, face your own. Admit it, we lost. Like they say...you win some you lose some...Tough break. Let's play nice w/ our neighbors now.

"The heavy feeling that in the echelons above us there is nothing but under-preparation, insincerity, lack of foresight and inability to make rational decisions, leads to the question - were we called up for nothing?" This statement made by the reservists expressing their feelings, it's exactly what had happen. I personally was expecting from the government of Israel to perform better in the face of Hizbullah's agression. Most people in the world were wishing they will be defeated once and for all, recover the kidnapped soldiers and make a stand at least with Syria if not with Iran at this time.

Olmert, Peretz, Peres, Halutz. They lied, Jews died. No more Oslo Hezbollah has got to go. No more Oslo Hamas has got to go No more Oslo Israel has been conned Regime Change Now In Iran

Olmert! Resign! and take your entire cabinet with you to your new home in Gaza, maybe you can run against Hamas!

Lebanese are not Arabs. We are not STUUPID. You can have any Govt. you want with any leader you want and you can come at us again as you have done before and you will fail as you have done before. By the way, Lebanon never attacked Israel in any of the Arab/Israeli wars. The only time attacks were launched from Lebanon was in the civil war and they were by Pals. Then your good old Arik went and killed about 17000 Lebanese just to get Arafat (good objective, severly screwed up tactics). Thats when enmity between Israel and Lebanon started. By the way, lets not forget the silent Israeli involvement of intelligence and arms in the Lebanese civil war. So before Israelis come at me saying Lebanese hate Jews and Israelis becuase they hurt Pals they should think twice. WE ARE NOT ARAAABS! Shalom Aleichem/Salam Aleikum

Hezbollah's victory is essentially symbolic, even Pyrrhic in nature--they get to shout boasts southward while picking through the rubble. What fun. No, based on what's happening in Israel politically now and with worse there obviously to come, I would venture to guess that the biggest winners of this conflict will not be Hezbollah, Nasrallah, Syria, or Iran. They will be Israel's far right and religious parties. For Netanyahu, Liberman, Feiglin, and their ilk Lebanon '06 is like manna from heaven. They must be salivating. The nation's left and moderates are paralyzed by the results of the conflict thereby ceding them the stage by default.

israel has expressed the most expansionist aspirations in that region so far. as for Hizbola, they were defending their land and people(moslims,christians,jews)which were being so hienously and unwarrantly assaulted.it's not a war against jews or otherwise..it is resistance against an agressor.Hizbola's stance has nothing to do with jews or christians,rather with defending against an agressor..be it israel or china! as for americans,most can't point out their state on a map if their lives depended on it,let alone lebanon.the rest are brainwashed daily by a biased media. speaking of enemies:in vrecent history the kukluxklan was one of the biggest white supremist antisemitist groups around.i wonder how that got turned around into such a tight kinship?!

When the UN general assembly attempted to pass a strong resolution against terrorism there were 2 countries that voted against it. Of course, with occupation in the Palestinian territories and ongoing operations in Nicaragua and South Africa they couldn't vote against themselves. And today the US and Israel are still the POSTER BOYS for recruiting more terrorists for the future. The best way to fight terrorism is to stop participating in it!!

u r right the end result is political settlement. but unfortunately in the muslim world, sometmes u need to whip them few times before u can make a deal. i.e. egypt, jordan. syrai for all its retoric didnt twitch during the war. Israel is fighting for peace. u r right. lebanon and israel will be better off with hiz. idf will have no qualms with leveling hiz. lead lebanon, and u will get what u asked for - nice shariah society. u should wonder why your countrymen are dying for causes of plo and now iran and syria.

When will you learn that your mighty force will never achieve anything for you? I don't think you can handle the truth of being so brainwashed and fed with propaganda. As a Lebanese Druze totally against this "state within a state" and initially pro the disarming of Hezballah you have turned myself and every moderate in my country to be fully convinced that Israel not only does not want peace but cannot survive with peace. Why? Simply because you can never understand the policital and social implications to the terror and murder you have caused us by your government--your true collective punishment. As my brother Steve said it...we know who are enemy is...do you really know yours? One day you might truly feel the suffering we have been through and realize that after everything you could not break the will of our people...justice through peace is the only way...give us liberty or give us death--oh and if it's death then plan on coming with us. Say hello the Druze in Israel.

whio cares what they claim or believe. they pronounced victory after 57 as well. the arab leaders know the truth. there is a reason hiz. agreed to un resolution. olmert on teh other hand is a donkey. should have never accepted teh resolution without the two soldiers.

U dont get it. they are protesting that their government didnt let them complete their job - to kill all the hizbollah without any limitations. I hope HIzbollah will provoke again so they get a chance to finish teh job. Hiz. won the pr war. They agreed to the un resolution which was denounced by iran. they didnt dare to respond to israeli commando raid. i thik they got the point.

I fully support your views, Israel is so arrogant that looks like it needs another lesson..myabe we should increase the dosage this time.Maybe People in Israel should listen to the tapes recorded by hisbollah of the latest fightin in Bint-Jbeil, where the Isreali soldiers are crying like girls- I kid you not, you will know what kinda soldiers you have and will no longer want to fight another war! Anyways, in Lebanon, Muslim&Christian living is eternal, it has always been and will always be. There is no more space for aggressive Israel in the middle East, from now on, you will be punished harshly for every act of agression you do...the difference between us and you is that we will punish your soldiers but you will very cowardly attack civilians (Women and children)

May be Israel will now know who their true friends are. May be the one who cajoles them to jump into fire (i.e. US & UK)isn't really their true friend but the one who tells them to behave moderately (i.e. the rest of the world)is.

For once Arabs and Israelis are in agreement: Israel lost this war. I don't get it. The stinkin' party of god has been removed from the border, replaced by the Lebanese army and a large UNIFIL force, ALL on Lebanese territory. Isn't that what Israel always wanted? The border if not totally secure, is much more secure than before. And what did that pig-face Nasrallah get? Did he get Sheba farms? Did he secure the release of the approx. 1000 Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails? NO! Let's cut through the Lebanese rhetoric: the Lebanese must be furious at Hizbollah; they won't admit it but they can't be that stupid. They don't want a repeat of this war and won't allow another Hizbollah-provoked conflict with Israel. Even today we see Lebanese officials warning them not to provoke war with Israel. Lebanon tolerated Hizbollah to avoid another civil war - many Lebanese citizens have told me that - but now after this war they won't tolerate Hizbollah's troublemaking.

Are you really such a FUCKING ASSHOLE or just a simple jew hater. I can see you have no clue about the military so why not do us all a favor and jump into the Boston harbor.

Hi Jenna, I love your comments,you are very and right to the point. Thank you for speaking some truths and very good points.

Just one thing i have to tell you stuped Steve: I m christian and in lebanon we are all proud of the libaneese fighter of the hizb. don t worry about the relationship beetween christian and mouslims in lebanon: We are all libaneese and our country is one LEBANON. Shame on you and all our prayer to nasrallah.

Alex I believe you are right, the Israeli have better training and better equipment and better arms and also planes and Nuc weapon, but what they do not have the right mission and the right reaons. Hezbullah have faith in thier cause, they have a better honest leader that will never let 3 people rust in your jails,never let his lands stay with you and never let you insult him without punshing back. It is really about dignity and intergity, he had both, your leaders and the extremist element in the IDF IAF have none.

Tony a Muslim from south Lebanon send his love and Steve does not understand that Lebanon is one now and thank to thier brutality. Lebanon is one and we will never let you divide us never again. Sayed Nasrallah have nothing but respect for Christians and also for Jews who are against this aprarhtied system. Sayed Nasrallah is an honest man and that is why Israel want to kill him. They cannot stand honest Arab.

The Prime Minister and his cabinet are not at fault. As already stated this is the accumalation of a problem that stems from previous Governments. I state so because the Iranian issue was never acknowledge in its gravity till now. Today, Israel is at a definitive point in modern History where the synopsis in the middle east is a new one. It is wrong to critisise the military campaign with the exception that ground forces of 4 divisions from Israel should have moved in unison with the IAF campaign from the outset. I personally am sceptical whether the United Nation can fulfill resolution 1701. To that effect the ground forces of Israel may well be called upon to fulfill the objectives of 1701 themselves. Iran's Nuclear issue is a worry and this is due at the UN at the end of the month. This is just as important as the objectives of the Israeli Government for Lebanon. I belive that this is a turning point in modern middle east history where proliferation issues are addressed.

I imagine during the disengagement but that was political and some monor protests regarding excessive force agaist police on occasion.....but when like this???

You really gave to him. Mr. Steve got what he deserve, I extend an invitaion to Mr. Steve to change his mind and just Listen to Sayed Hassan Nasrallah with an open mind, may be he can learn something about the Truth. We Muslim will never fight again with our brother the Lebanese Christians, like they defended Lebanon for 100 years, it is our time to defend it and thank to Israel stupidty they united us forever. I saw Lebanese Muslims and christians in churches all over the world praying together and gathering money to help Lebanon like I never saw it before, refugees stayed in churches and mosqes, Christians open their homes to Lebanese from the south, it was great to see this nation turn into one heart against the Israeli brutality, Thank you Israel fo uniting us and we learned from the past and you will never divide us ever again. Love you Christian Lebanese.

ignorant post, reservists should be admired not criticised.

Olmert, Peretz and Halutz failed in their job to make the right decisions. All this foot dragging was amazing incompetent.

you obviously want to convert to islam, that'll happen by force if you dont stop hezbollah. in the long run you'll see israel didnt lose this war. remember unlike arabs, israelis question themselves, admit mistakes and remedy them. israel has gained much more from this war than hezbollah and lebanon. isreal now knows what hezbolah is all about and what it can and cannot do, how it operates etc. Next time around be sure the military mistakes of this campaign wont be repeated. Your civilian casualties are a tragedy but you are so blind to reality... hezbollah win every time a civilain dies, israel loses....you think we are so stupid that we want to give hez pr points. you guys will think twice before starting to attack us again - it is just a shame that you force us to keep reminding you. believe me, when you get smarter you'll want to have good relations with the jews, we dont have horns and we dont use blood to make matzah.

Steve it is obvious that you do not understand the meaning of Infidels. Infedels mean people who do not believe in God. Muslems, Jews and christians believe in God so stop your hatefull messages. We all know that some Muslims which we call them extremist say a lot of stupid and criminal stuff but that does not mean the majority of Muslem are or agree with it. As A muslim I condemn these people and they are harming Muslims more then they are harming others. So hate will not work any more, we must find comming ground and we do not want to kill anyone, we simply want the Israeli barbaric ways in dealing with arab to stop. WE, moderate also want all hatefull messages against Jews to stop fron anyone especially these crazy Madrasa in Pakistan,the Quran says" the killing of on one innocent humanbeing is the killing of all humanity.Enough is enough.

there havent been more expansionist aspirations in the region as israeli endeavours have shown to be.more importantly,Hizbolla was honourably defending a heinous,not at least unwarranted, attack on Lebanese,land,buildings,women and children.The problem-the whipping surprise-is that they,a small organized group,were able to defend great big Israel,whose aura..whose bubble of being the mighty power simply burst at the hands of a 'measly' bunch.Islam has got nothing to do with it..Hizbolla was defending land on which muslims and christians and jews live alike.The problem has never been with christians or jews, because Islam is a tolerant faith(read abt it)the problem is with those who attack other people's lands and condemn their resistance as terrorism. i am intrigued by americans on this given that the vast majority of americans couldn't point out their state on a map if their lives depended on it.the rest are fed so much BS by the biased media they cant see straight.

I realy think you should keep your Prime Minister as well as your defence minister, after all they deliverd victory in their latest fiasco,George w.Bastered thinks so?WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH YOU MANY VICTORIES LIKE THAT...

That's the entire problem! you don't understand that killing civilians will only create hate and it doesn't mean we got whipped. You can maybe destroy buildings but you will have to face bombings and death and your army is unable to go in land invasion cuz we send them back in bodybags. lol...i don't understand your troop formations cuddled together like a herd of sheep. You really think it's legitimate military targets to bomb our civilian buildings and infrastructure? don't you see it doesn't do the job in turning us against Hizbollah?they're respected and if they wanted to impose by force they could have turned their arms against us and captured the government, they go through elections and work inside our system. their military presence started in 1982 after the invasion of Lebanon. to sum it up WE TRUST THEM! If you feel you've whipped us by bombin civilians go on again, not much left there's still Beirut left, it would please me to see Tel Aviv burn

The war was mismanged, but that is not the main issue. The main issue is that it shouldn't have been started in the first place. A well managed version of this war would have led to more Israeli bloodshed and more war crimes and bloodshed committed against the Lebanese people. War is not the answer. The answer lies in talking to your enemies and taking responsibility for what you are to blame for. Israel never wants to talk to the enemies and Israel never takes responsibility for its' actions.

what is your interest ?

Thats fun! What has war in the ME to do with logic? Israel wants peace? Ridiculous, impossible, the economy would break immediately.

One thing I learned this evening: the water of some sea is much more important than the famous strategic value of the famous Golan Hights. And yes, 2 or 4 Lebanese prisoners in Israels jailhouses... Have fun.

While I abhor war on prinicple, I am a bit confused by an army that apparently does not expect to have to fight a real enemy and does not expect to suffer casulaties. Isn't that what happens in wars? ??? Isn't that why we shouldn't want wars???

Steve, we know who our enemy is. Do you know who yours is? Maybe a neoconservative platform that thinks might can right everything in this world? In the end diplomacy and political solutions will be the only things that hold fast. Either that or try killing everyone who doesn't agree with you. But be sure to have alot of bullets and guns, cause they will keep coming. Not the IDF or the US army have enough amunition for that. Think about it.

I have been heavily critical of Israel and its invasion of Lebanon, but I have to tell you that I am deeply impressed by these petition drives and the protests. Seems to me that at least some Israelis aren't hiding from the truth, and instead are demanding answers. The idea that these protests are led by enlisted military members is even more impressive. It would never happen in the U.S., even though it should. The Iraq disaster has been greeted with silence within the U.S. military. Israel, as critical as I can be, I have to hand it to you. Integrity and courage seem to be continuing civic virtues there.

I have been in the army for 10 years. I do not think that Hezballah is trained better than IDF. But when you becaming sitting duck (and this is what was happenning) due to stupid and indecisive orders of political echelon, then your training worth nothing. You are easy target. Therefore Olmert and Co has to resign.

Judging from your description of Lebanon, it sounds as if YOU got whipped, not the IDF! And you did. And you will get whipped again (and rightly so) if Lebanon cannot act like a proper state and rein in terrorist militias. I greatly hope Lebanon will learn to act responsibly, and act like a real government. Otherwise, you will have a very nasty government foisted upon you, and it won't be Israel -- it will be your beloved Nasrallah who will enslave you to his fanatic ideology. Here's hoping you recognize where the true danger lies.

how can idf soldiers fight an enemy theu dont know much about as well as they are fighting for the wrong reasons israel gov knew that they will lose and thats why decided to destroy leb to weaken it we will rebuild it dont u worry this time stronger surprise you have to fear us now and rethink all ur violence strategies that didnt get u anywhere ps: israelis do not trust americans

For years Israelis have been deluded into believing the world was with them and they were chosen to wreak havoc amongst their enemies, real or imaginary. After what was clearly a defeat for the IDF, pundits and Presidents stood up and with chests filled with air declared the end of Hizb and victory - a sort of mission accomplished moment hard to miss and ahrd to match with reality. Now the very soldiers who fought so gallantly for Israel are telling us a different story. Kudos to them for daring to tell the truth and shame the devil. Time for the broom to sweep clean and in with the new, out with the old ---- but no Binyamin please.

Steve, with all my respect, but I don't think Israel cares either if we are Christians or Muslims, we are all Lebanese, and we are all arabs !!! Tony, a Christian Lebanese from the mountains

Olmert & Posse should go, Israel needs a brave, smart leader like George Bush.

dude!! dunnow what to answer you but you're brainwashed. If Lebanon was built on such thoughts it won't live to see another day. we live together not in words but for real. we had civil war and i promise we learned from it that no islamic and no fanatic christian could impose his views on others. you want to impose yourselves on others, your system is like Apartheid. the lebanese muslims would fight with us against islamists! Hezbollah are our respected friends who liberated our land. In 1982 sharon destroyed beirut claimin theyr after palestinian terrorists and when PLO left, IDF stayed till 2000 and went out by force. now you destroyed our country. maybe your media don't show this www.lebanonunderattack.com you hit us all. all you understand is force and thats why there was no other option to free our prisoners except capturing IDF. i beg you to invade we are waitning. no peace is possible with brainwashed blood thirsty people like you. you deserve no respect.

The reserve differ from the active, because they are not actively invovled. In the Us it is the lack of manpowr. In Israrel it is the lack of training and logistics. If not in place, within the chain of command a reserve general of high rank must be part of the IDF chain of command to insure the following (1) adequate training before combat and (2) adequate equipment and matereial (3) a retesting of reserve readiness-a problem for the US, citizen soldiers need to be considered as such-moreso perhaps than the US because of its size and distance, but nonetheless morale equates with preparedness and success. Part of the problem in this conflict was the govt;s indescivelness in using land forces, aplhone and gaston-the danger of leaving soldiers standing around, not fruitfall espec in their defense.

"Your president has stated that Israel won the war." - Murray The fool still thinks he won in Iraq. "Mission Accomplished!" "Iran will continue to develop a nuclear weapon and someone will then have to put their foot down with Iran." - Murray Bush thinks that Iran will be a cakewalk just like Iraq.

Part I Israel goes into war... Israel comes out of a war. Arabs and israelis die, anyway. The resolution of the central problem in the eyes of the world is the palestinian refugees. Israel expands its territories. No one recognizes the expansion. Israel buys time and tries in vain to riggle out - but finally and even after 'winning' a war, it is made to withdraw leaving behind bitter enemies. As such, who can say Israel won the 1956, 1967, 1973 wars, or any of its battles in the Lebanon? Part II Israel used to win its wars... Israel now loses its wars. Israel since the middle 1980s stopped winning wars. Its army tired and fat, its governments corrupt and dazed.. Thousands of Arabs and Israelis die. Millions of talents wasted and skills left to dry out in the desert. Can Israel keep loosing wars for ever! I doubt it! Time for Israel to work for peace with its neighbors and forget about 'Greater israel.' It is not going to happen. NC

True the first victim in ANY war. There are a lot of black holes in this war. One can even think if we must call this a war or a battle in a much bigger and lasting war. No one (not me) knows who the real enemies are, and for sure not the real friends and values that are in dispute. Then there are a lot of scopes and views most of the wrong. AM ISRAEL JAI

reservists protest deserves the respect & admiration of all israeli"s . hopefully a long over due debate why israel's future is far from secure has to start at once.. the myth that having military might will protect the population has gone up in smoke... to continue with the old policies is a sure recipe for disaster... israel deserves better then the present misguided leadership that exists in all the major political parties.... not to change is a dreadful thought.....n.f.

Your horrendous assault on Lebanese civilians has lowered you in the world's opinion to the level of the terrorist. This should concern you more than Arabs laughing at you. Its time to look for what in the Israeli character is worth preserving.

Hezbollah fought like there was no other option. They put everything into it, and managed to repel Israel and avoid getting 'disarmed'. They also got to keep those soldiers they kidnapped. Let us not forget that the ostensible purpose of this 'war' was to free those captured IDF soldiers. The IDF, on the other hand, sent in reservists who obviously weren't in the mood. Now, everyone blames the 'leaders'. I guess I can see some logic in that, but it would be dishonest not to say that the IDF soldiers, reservists in particualr, have turned soft.

Israelly leadership now is like the arabs in 1967 lots of talk and no doings.

Dear David, this is the problem with Israeli, they think people are laughing and happy because you were defeated. This is not the case. the truth is people are sick and tired of your arrogence and they want to live without you tyrany and lack of understanding that the Lebanese are human also and they do not want you to insut them every day with your fligt over our lands and they do not want the 100s of informant coming and spying on us and they do not want you to stay on our land and they do not want you to continue your aggression against the palestinenians, we simple want you to see the light. We understnad that your were persecuted for more then 2000 years, we believe you, we condemn this but do not do the same thing to people who have nothing to do with it. Accept that Arab want peace just like you but not under you, equal to you.

you have no idea who your real enemy is. When the Islamists come to kill infidel, they wont care if they speak hebrew or arabic. Good luck.

Your president has stated that Israel won the war. In any event we all know that the ceasefire will not last. Syria will try to rearm Hezb and Israel will again invade. Iran will continue to develop a nuclear weapon and someone will then have to put their foot down with Iran.

more then 41 Israeli died after were successful and agreed on it by Israeli. Why is that? because Olmert and his gangs have no conciouis also Peretz is very Stupid and they really murderes these youg men. I feel sorry for their parents, what are they going to say? what did they die for. they died for Olmert and for Peretz jobs and even their death will not save these morans. Peace will insure that no more children dies for any one.

In order to have a lasting peace and stability in the middle east,there should be a change in all the governments of the nations involved in the mideast problems. This includes the leaders of Israel, but also of lebanon, who allowed hetzbollah, a terrorist group, to take over their country. When all the hoopalah goes down, I would not be supplied if lebanese as well as other arabs call for the resignation of the head of hezbollah, who allowed the group to attack Israel and start the fighting which destroyed so much of lebanon.

ben, you've been smoking... The idf reservist pushed 20 kilometers from israel over litani in 24 hours.Nasralah and his profissional soldiers were below theirs bed, in a safe room meanwhile they put in risk, and helped by a mama or a child... to live another day.That is victory to them. They could even sink a boat, with two missles. A french missle could do better. One missile and shefield was sunk. The hezzbolah was sendding its missles in the wrong direction..... The reservist jumped in hizzbolah's back. and by now israeli forces are in their places. Hezzbolah blow some tanks and soldiers, and u say they are professionals. Only in doctoring photos....

Many sacrificed their lives for the State. The least that Olmert, Peretz and Halutz can do is sacrifice their careers.

THEY NOW WILL SAY THEY DEFEAT US IN THE LEASTEST WAR BECAUSE OF THIS ISRAELIS.

Hey Israelis, why can't you accept the fact that you got whipped in here? All you did was bring Lebanese civilians misery by destroying our bridges, milk factories, candy factories, kill more than 1200 people of them 400 children under 12, and destroy whole towns to the ground? What did Hizbollah do to start this war? they captured 2 military personel, how did israel respond? they bombed 10s ofcivilian bridges,shut down our airport sea ports claiming they are used to arm hizbollah and if you only saw our beautiful airport and seaport, you'll know this aint true. it was all to make Lebanese civilians pay by losing our tourist season which was to get us 4 billion$ this year. then and only then did hizbollah start bombing your civilian cities. you thought it's gona be like all wars where IDF makes others pay and Israel stays safe, hell no! this time you pay high prices, and if you don't accept the loss you got, we are waiting for you again. This time we send you more bodybags you cowards!

The entire conduct of the war was inexplicable. There is no evidence that the government or IDF ever had a coherent plan. When the initial (and absurd) goal of having Lebanon turn on Hizbollah after a few days and nights of Shock and Awe failed, there was no strategy. The ground war floundered for weeks with the outstanding characteristic being indecision, a lack of focus and purpose, and inept staff work. Israel cannot afford the kind of incompetence which was exhibited by both the government and the upper echelons of the IDF. Men a few kilometers from Israel should not have been going hunger and without water. . . Nor should they have been subjected to combat without a clear plan to prevail. Hizbollah should not have been able to win this war. Simple as that.

Our reservists are excellent fighters and very professional as well. The problem was in the way the government led the war. And that's exactly the reason why the reservists are protesting now. I guess the government undecisiveness and illogical actions were caused by many factors, including the fear of Israeli public opinion, America's worry about Siniora's government, and maybe many others which we, simple people, cannot possibly know.

Adlane, There is something else Arab nations, and especially Palestinians and Lebanese society can learn from Israel. Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altalena_Affair It explains how to create a legitimate state that does not harbour terrorists. Or at least not until they adhere to the rule of law! If Lebanese government and the Palestinian Authority did that a lot of blood could have been spared on both sides.

I have a very strong feeling that u are not an arab because no arab in the world sympathize or support zionism unless ur a christian zionist. I suggest u stop calling urself arab becuz no one will believe u, arab or non arab. shaloum

Olmert and Sharon were populists,so their moves to shorten reserve duty and their frequency were popular among at least some of the protestors. Still,it isn't their fault Sharon,Mofaz & Co created an illusion it wasn't necessary to train as hard as before.

True picture of the war is being told by your reservists. Learn from your mistakes and hear Said Hassan well when he said at the beginning of the war that your stupid government doesn't know where its taking its people.

This government has set israel on a dangerous path and there incompetence makes it worse every hour they sit in positions of responsibility. Thank g-d for our responsible soldiers that show courage on the battlefield as well as citizens.

Even if these protestors have a few legitimate grievances, I think Bradley Burston said it best when he suggested that the overly comfortable Tel Aviv "Yuppiestan" crowd has proven Nasrallah correct. And it looks like they'll do it again (and again and again). Forgive them, for they know not just how much they're undermining Israel's ability to defend itself (both physically and ideologically)... in addition to strengthening the Jew-hating anti-Zionists' one-sided critiques, within the Arabian peninsula formerly-known-as-Europe.

The country needs competent leaders not greasy, arrogant politicians. Olmert has been spinning, but we're not stupid. There were massive failures in Lebanon and it is time to fix them not deny they were there.

Let's face it, the Israeli army is well equipped, but all the pansy reservists couldn't stand up to the far better trained Hezbollah. It must be emabarassing to lose a war so badly, but perhaps it's time to admit that amateurs shouldn't have been sent in to do a job meant for qualified professionals.

Yes, and you love the IDF and Israel so much that your heart is braking.

If Olmert & Co. are so sure that they did not do anything wrong...they should resign and immediately call for new elections.... let the people of Israel decide ...

Hello, I am an Arab with no much sympathy for Israel imperialism in the region but I am say I have a lot of respect and admiration for the openess of your society. To see soldiers speak openly about the army failures is unique and unprecedented. We have a lot to learn from you.

last new is a good one.... Shalom/salam/toda.merci Clod

The IDF actions in the final 48 hours of the war was inexplicable. They stayed on the border awaiting diplomatic developments. Just as the announcement came that diplomatic efforts are successful, the IDF attacks and suffers more than 30 dead.

Kol HaKavod Milu'imnikim! An old saying goes smething like this: people deserve the leaders they get. How is it we have come to deserve the current crop of leaders? How is it our reserve soldiers can be sent to the front, without proper training, no provisions -- not even water -- and be expected to perform well? The answer is the examples set by our "leaders" such as Halutz, whose primary concern, it seems, is the hit his stock portfolio will take because of war, and because of insder knowledge, goes and protects his personal investments. What about the investments in our nation's future? Our soldiers? Our citizens? Throw the lot of them out and bring back the leadership we truly deserve: decisive, dedicated, strategic, and wise.