Ok, and if the get all this and still decide to fire rockets, which are now that much closer to population centers, from the midst of a civilian population? Do you really think the israeli government will be able to mount an effective response?

The majority of the population on both sides wants peace, and the governments on both sides are doing the bidding of extremists. If there is courageous leadership for peace, an agreement can be reached in which rocket fire will be rejected and prevented by both sides. Tragically, the warmongers on both sides are gradually gaining ground.

A couple of weeks ago Abu Mazen gave an interview on Israeli TV. He said that although he was born in Tsfat, in Israel, he doesn't want to return there to live. For him, he said, Palestine is in the West Bank and Gaza, and he wishes to live beside Israel in its 1967 borders, and not to return the refugees to Israel. I think that's a solid basis for a peace agreement. But what was the response from Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister? He labeled Abu Mazen a "political terrorist", whatever that means. Tragically, Israel's government today wants peace less than the Palestinians, and it is doing its darndest to convince the Israeli public that peace is impossible. This will IMHO be viewed by history as an ultimately catastrophic policy.

Elan