Is the end in sight?

It looks like we're reaching the end of these operations. Today was certainly much quieter - only about 14 rockets were fired into Israel today. TV commentators seem to think that both sides ar ready to stop the fighting, and interestingly, one reckons that the people who are most put out by this are the Egyptians, who would have been very happy to see us deal a deadlier blow to the Hamas.


I can't help wondering two things. To what extent have we weakened the Hamas, and what about Gilad Shalit, the soldier who has been held captive for over 900 days by the Hamas? As regards the first, I'm not sure - they still have a lot of rockets; the question is whether this will dare to use them again after an agreement. Also, will we be able to effectively prevent them from replacing the ones they fired at us?

Well, I took a short break for some teaching and in the meantime it looks like this previous question is being answered already. The Air Force has scattered leafelts telling the population of Rafiah (Rafah) to leave their homes. It seems that they are going to bomb the are in order to destroy all the tunnels there.

Which leaves us with Gilad Shalit. I know that our soldiers have been told to take as many prisoners as possible, and this must surely be in order to serve as a bargaining card so as to bring Gilad home. It beats me how the world has such blatant double standards when it comes to Israel. We are expected to be humane while our enemies tantalisingly hold a soldier captive and refuse to let the Red Cross anywhere near him in complete contravention to the Geneva Convention. I also wonder how the Russians would have reacted if the world had intervened as they are doing now while they were putting the Chechens in order. And those of you living in Britain and France should know that you are getting a preview of what will surely come your way - maybe not even in the coming ten years or so, but you or your children will eventually have to deal with the consequences and pay the price. I wonder how understanding British and French governments will be when the Hamas supporters in your midst start playing their little games. By the way, I do hope that all the impartial news broadcasts are reporting how the Hamas are using civilians as a human shield, and how their leaders are all hiding in a bunker under the hospital in Gaza...

Unfortunately we are in a situation where it is basically them or us. Our Russian population tends to be fairly right-wing, and one couple asked me why it was OK for the allies to bomb German cities and drop an atom bomb on thousands of innocent civilians in Japan. What's the answer? We are more civilised? I think we might be doing the previous generation a disservice if we were to suggest that were the case. Or is it just unfair because we are stronger and have greater fire power? Can we please forget the "David and Goliath" bit? Does "right" and "wrong" no longer play a part?

I don't mean to sound particularly militaristic, but we have a duty to our children. They say that although the border with Lebanon has been quiet for the last two years, the Hizballah have slowly but surely regained positions and reequipped themselves. It seems to be a story that repeats itself again and again. How long will every Israeli mother have a twinge of pain along with the happiness of giving birth to a son, knowing that he may have to go the army in 18 years time? My mother-in-law said that when she gave birth to Sari's youngest brother 38 years ago she told herself that by the time he reached 18 there would be no more wars and Israel would have an "army of peace". I dared to hope the same when my son Yonatan was born sixteen years ago. And where are we now? Erez has been called up and is freezing in the night air as I write this, and Yonatan will soon get his first papers from the army "asking" him to come for his physical check-up and other tests. How much longer?