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The Rogues Strike Back: Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hizballah vs. Israel
by Robert Satloff
 This was the week the Dark Side went on the offensive. Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hizballah: These are not marginal fringe groups. The first two are sovereign states, the third forms the elected government of the Palestinian Authority, and the fourth holds 25 of the 128 seats in the Lebanese parliament and two ministerial portfolios. This was the week that the rogue regimes reminded the world that they too have the potential to grab headlines and wreak havoc. The rogue foursome is linked ideologically and operationally in a much more organic way than the charter members of the Axis of Evil ever were. (Weekly Standard)
Why They Fight
Charles Krauthammer
 Just last September, Israel evacuated Gaza completely. Gaza became the first independent Palestinian territory in history. Yet the Gazans continued the war. They turned Gaza into a base for launching rocket attacks against Israel and for digging tunnels under the border to conduct attacks. Hizballah, which has representation in the Lebanese parliament and in the cabinet, launched an attack into Israel on Wednesday that resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers and the taking of two others as hostages. What's the grievance here? Israel withdrew from Lebanon completely in 2000, as verified by the UN. The issue is, and has always been, Israel's existence. That is what is at stake. (Washington Post)
Israel's Next War Has Begun
by Yossi Klein Halevi
 The next Middle East war--Israel against genocidal Islamism--has begun. The first stage of the war started two weeks ago, with the Israeli incursion into Gaza in response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and the ongoing shelling of Israeli towns and kibbutzim; now, with Hezbollah's latest attack, the war has spread to southern Lebanon. Ultimately, though, Israel's antagonists won't be Hamas and Hezbollah but their patrons, Iran and Syria. (New Republic)
Dear Brethren, the War with Israel Is Over
by Youssef Ibrahim
 Dear Palestinian Arab brethren:
The war with Israel is over. You have lost. Surrender and negotiate to secure a future for your children. We, your Arab brothers, may say until we are blue in the face that we stand by you, but the wise among you and most of us know that we are moving on, away from the tired old idea of the Palestinian Arab cause and the “eternal struggle” with Israel. (The Business)
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A War Israel Must Win
by Sever Plocker
 Hamas and Hizbullah have a lot in common. Neither recognizes Israel, both organizations are well entrenched in areas Israel evacuated unilaterally, both are led by charismatic leaders with the ability to stir up a crowd, and both heap scorn openly on both Israel's military prowess and Israelis ability to stand up under pressure. This is no competition of false machismo. This is a fateful decision: Even if these two radical Islamic movements gain symbolic propaganda victories it could free other enemies around the Middle East. The need to win this war is absolute. (Ynet News)
Confronting State Sponsors of Terror Is the Only Option
by Michael Oren
 For the first time since the Yom Kippur War in 1973, Israel is facing hostilities on two fronts. If Israel yields to international appeals for restraint and allow tensions to subside, it would accelerate a process in which Syrian- and Iranian-backed terrorist groups in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon can keep the country in a state of perpetual military mobilization, paralyzing it economically and deepening its diplomatic isolation. To deny the terrorists this victory, indeed to survive, Israel must take bold action to fundamentally alter the security situation on its northern and southern borders. (Washington Post)
In Israel, We Are All the Shalits
by David Brinn
 The capture of Cpl. Gilad Shalit by Hamas members and the resultant effect on Israeli society had an eerie sense of familiarity about it. Everybody can identify with the Shalit family as they wait to hear word of their son's fate, because we've all either been in the army, or have parents, children or neighbors serving. There's no distance whatsoever when you see Shalit's photo flashed on the TV screen or in the newspapers, or that of his father stoically standing outside the family home in the Galilee. That's our son being held, that's us being interviewed - because it could happen to any of us. (Israel21c)
Pushing Israel's Right to Exist Is the Wrong Strategy
by Yossi Alpher
 Neither Israel nor the United States needs an "Israel's right to exist" certificate from Hamas in order to have dealings with that movement. To insist on this precondition for contact not only places an unnecessary obstacle on the road to dealing with the Hamas-led government in the Palestinian Authority. It also sends a subtle and disturbing message that Israel lacks the necessary self-confidence to deal with its enemies and solve some of its problems with them. (Forward)
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