Only on one occasion; Israeli war against Arafat’s terrorists in Lebanon (the Peace for Galilee), was the war initiated and led by the Rightist Government of Menachem Begin as the Prime Minister and Ariel Sharon as Minister of Defense.  This war did not receive the support of the opposition.  On the contrary, it was met by denunciations, slander and abuse.  Army officers were being provoked to criticize the war and parents of soldiers were mobilized to stand by Begin’s window with placards bearing names of their killed and wounded sons.

The provocations for the war then and the war now were similar.  In both cases, it was a direct result of terrorist attacks, border crossing and (now) kidnapping.  Nevertheless, immediately with the opening of hostilities, Benjamin Netanyahu, current leader of the nationalistic opposition, came out in strong support of the Government, thus presenting a united front of all Israelis in their struggle against Moslem fascism, as represented by Hamas and Hezbollah, who in turn are directed, financed and armed by both Iran and Syria.

Mistakes were made during most wars.  However, it is the outcome that counts.  And, so far, the outcome of each war fought by Israel since the War of Independance, was an irrefutable victory, although often neutralized by political pressures of the “outside world”.

The mistake of the present war against Hezbollah, is in the directions Israel’s military command is receiving from its Government.  Apparently, in order to appease his leftist colleagues, Olmert has agreed to a “limited” war; limited to an all-out assault by its Air Force.  This decision was, no doubt, enthusiastically supported by Israel’s new Chief of Staff, the first Air Force general to be placed in charge of Israel’s Armed Forces.

In the meantime, working on a tight political timetable, Israel has sacrificed more than two weeks of opportunities while the American President and his Secretary of State were keeping the hounds of “immediate ceasefire” at bay.

With a full scale, Six-Day-War type of an assault, Hezbollah and Hamas would have been totally defeated by now and Israel could have had its secured borders.

As things stand today, in the minds of Muslim fanatics, the Hezbollah is already victorious:  Israel is being accused by the “world” of overreaction, its cities are under constant bombardment, the terrorist forces are not diminishing and Hezbollah’s leader and mentor, Hassan Nasballa, is securely hidden in the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, from where he directs his operations.

The very notion of victory by the terrorists is serious psychological defeat for Israel.

The tragedy is being compounded by the fact that this war is nothing short of a war by proxy.  In reality it is the opening salvo of a much larger confrontation between Israel, the United States and (possibly) Great Britain on one side, and Iran and Syria on the other.  Sooner or later, all other nations, sitting comfortably on the fence, will have to choose between the freedom-loving democracies of the West and the Muslim fascists with their covert supporters.

In this larger war, there is no place for mistakes and miscalculations.  Iran is months away from possessing a nuclear capability.  If not stopped, it will not hesitate to unleash these weapons of mass destruction on their hated infidel enemies.  No doubt, it will eventually be out-nuked and defeated by the might of America’s powerful arsenal.  But Israel…?

For Israel, there is no time for a “wait and see” scenario.  A single well placed nuclear bomb will put the end to the State of Israel and liquidate a third of its population.

Thus, an immediate and thorough destruction of Hamas and Hezbollah must precede an immediate and thorough elimination of Muslim fascist rulers in both Syria and Iran.

Of course, this means war.  But better war than a Holocaust.