> Where does Wallerstein get that idea? Israelis seem to have that same
> lunatic, stay-the-course, Armageddon glint in their eye that their
> fundamentalist Xtian buddies in the US have.
Yeah, see this from today's Guardian:
[...]
Although the strategy [a massive land offensive] holds out the prospect of heavy casualties and the potential for another ugly guerrilla war, the Israeli government still enjoys remarkable popular support.
According to a poll in yesterday's Ma'ariv newspaper, 61% said the war should be continued without any halt. Only 29% supported the government's 48-hour "partial" suspension of air bombardments, which was due to end early this morning, and only 9% said they wanted the war stopped.
The only pressure to halt the fight is coming from abroad, particularly after the killing of more than 50 civilians, many of them children, in Qana on Sunday.
"Obviously the government is under pressure from the Americans to get our military act together and create some facts on the ground before they have to yield to pressure for a ceasefire," said Mr Alpher.
Israel's military commanders were reportedly angry that Mr Olmert agreed to the halt in air strikes, apparently under pressure from the US. Much of the hawkish Israeli press was also furious and has heaped intense pressure on Mr Olmert to prove himself a strong, successful wartime leader.
"If Olmert is a real leader he needs to get hold of himself and come to his senses," wrote Dan Margalit, a prominent columnist, in Ma'ariv yesterday. "He needs to open his eyes and to look reality courageously in the eye and to persevere, while saying to himself: 'Keep it up, stay strong.' Either that or he doesn't have what it takes. I hope he does."
Few in Israel are talking of an immediate ceasefire, and they dismiss mounting international criticism of the war. Israeli analysts say the government now has not only to damage Hizbullah's fighting capabilities and push it back from the border, but to prove that Israel retains a powerful deterrent.
[...]
full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/syria/story/0,,1835332,00.html
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Colin Brace
Amsterdam