Two soldiers, one hole. But we have now progressed one step further. Israel cannot respond immediately to three suicide bombers blowing up buses because it may encourage other Arabs to become suicide bombers. So deterrence is at play in the Mideast today. Yasser Arafat and his gang of killers has built a successful deterrence policy against Israel.
Israeli leaders are afraid to strike before an Arab summit, during the summit and after the summit.
Mr. Sharon, like Mr. Barak before him, is afraid of his own shadow, and it seems that Israel hasn t even the courage to identify the enemy. In this case, the fear seems not to be of the PA s response to being declared an enemy, but of the implications this would have for Israel itself. Until such time as new Israeli leaders arise, and perhaps a new generation of Israelis, who will display a will to life, the battle has been decided. As long as Arafat can deter Israel, the war is for all intents and purposes, over.