Unfortunately, few have asked why it is justifiable for the U.S. to ‘drain the swamps’ while Israel is to be vilified for merely swatting mosquitoes. I would tend to agree that Israeli ‘tit for tat’ reactions have not been effective and offer no promise to do so. The suffering that has plagued all parties involved will continue until Israel resolves to ‘drain the swamp’ as well, once and for all.

Let me say at this point that, as my religion did not originate in the Middle East, I have no vested interest in which party ‘wins.’ As an international politics student, my assessment and suggested strategy is based solely upon my own sense of fairness. I believe that MacArthur was right when he stated that there is no substitute for victory. The only other alternatives are surrender or a continuation of war.

The only moral use that a free society has for its military is to defeat its enemies and ensure that they will not be capable of starting another war in the future. Israel has not chosen to do that and the consequence has been endless war with all of the suffering that it entails. Israel’s enemies are at a tactical disadvantage with respect to weaponry. They do enjoy a strategic advantage with respect to their own resolve in comparison to that of the Israelis themselves and their putative 'supporters.' Thus, those who aim to destroy Israel can afford to bide their time as they repeatedly inflict pinprick wounds with the object of ultimately winning a war of attrition. Eventually, it is hoped the Israelis will tire of living in constant fear of terrorist attacks and will become more isolated with each retaliatory response.

What is the alternative? Violence should no longer be tolerated in Israel. People who perpetrate, foment or advocate violence [be they Jew, Christian or Muslim] should be removed from Israel permanently and have a stigma attached to their criminal records. If a peaceful demonstration turns into a riot, the area should be cordoned off, the participants rounded up and summarily deported. If any are minor children, their parents should be deported as well. The schools that teach children to hate should be closed; the teachers and textbook writers deported; the children taught the truth.

Anyone who is willing to live in peace should be welcome in Israel. Those who preach that it is all or nothing, that the members of other groups should be ‘cleansed’ from the land should be the ones to go. When terrorists emplace mortars and katayushas amongst their own people, the penalty should be deportation of the entire area and permanent loss of land. If the object of the terrorists is to push the Jews into the ocean, the result of their action should be the opposite. When they kill, the perpetrators and their leaders should be punished accordingly. Any territory used to plan and execute the atrocity should be seized.

As for the 'occupied territories,' there was no peace before they were occupied and there would certainly be no peace if the settlers are removed and the land put into the hands of the currently composed Palestinians. Those lands (belonging at the time to Jordan, Egypt and Syria) were occupied because they were being used as a staging ground for yet another attempt to destroy Israel. Does anyone deny that is what Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights would be used for again, given the chance? This is precisely why the present leadership of the Palestinians and their sympathizers want those territories under their complete control so badly.

Perhaps there could be some autonomy on a local level if it is earned by peaceful behavior, but there can be no security for Israel at its pre ’67 borders. Until there is a radical change in current Arab leadership, it is inconcievable for a Palestinian state to peacefully coexist with Israel. Those who advocate such a state know this. Advocacy for a Palestinian state necessarily includes a desire to remove Israel from the map. Security for these lands, therefore, must always be the ultimate responsibility of the IDF if Israel is to survive. The enemies of Israel can afford to try and try again to destroy Israel. Israel cannot afford to lose in this struggle even once. There are some who would say that what is herein recommended would be provocative.

What is ‘provocative’ is anything that ensures and/or enhances the security of Israel. What is ‘provocative’ is the very existence of Israel. All of the current demands that the Palestinians make of Israel would serve to undermine that security. This is why these demands are being made. That is why ¾ of them approve of suicide attacks against civilian targets. The Palestinians understand that they are in a war to destroy Israel. It is time that the Israelis understand this and act accordingly. It is not possible to ‘live’ with people who will settle for nothing less than death.

There was an Arabic political cartoon concerning the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon that depicted the Prime Minister Netanyahu as a dog running away with its tail between its legs. What it demonstrates is that acquiescing to terrorist demands does not reduce tensions, nor does it promote peace. It only arouses contempt. Anyone who understands the culture knows that there is no way to get the Arab world to accept the existence of Israel by means of reason and persuasion. It can only be accomplished by demonstrating resolve.

When ‘moderate’ Muslims offer a view of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, they painstakingly build a case that the existence of Israel is illegitimate.

The British promised the Arabs self-determination in the Middle East in return for fighting against the Ottoman Sultan during WWI. European Jews came in with their money and beguiled the hapless effendi of their land. At the end of WWII, the Western powers wouldn’t accept most of the Jews displaced by the war, even after the details of the Holocaust were widely known. There was no place for these people to go but Palestine. Thus, a European problem was foisted upon the peace-loving Arabs.

Much of this is true, but several facts must be acknowledged. Long before the Zionist movement emerged, the Arabs were rioting in Palestine against the Ottoman Turks. As more Jews settled there, the Arabs rioted more. If Israel had not been there when attacked at birth in 1947, the land would have been dismembered by the neighboring states. There certainly would be no Palestinian State in any case. Many others have discussed how the Palestinians became refugees in the first place, and how the neighboring Arab states kept them from acquiring property and citizenship so that their squalid condition could be flogged for political gain. This is all well known.