It might seem that the Israeli home front is in bad shape for this challenge. Palestinian fighters may appear correct in thinking that by exacting enough bloodshed over a long enough time, Israel will, in essence, sue for peace by granting Palestinians what they want - the Temple Mount, right of return, whatever. An axiom of warfare is that for an army to win, or even just to avoid losing, it must be backed up by a public that is prepared to sacrifice and suffer for a long time until the goals of warfare are achieved. The beating of a Palestinian passerby in the Netanya souk after Sunday's bombing wasn't a good sign. At least on the edges of Israeli society, there is a sense that some people are beginning to lose it.
People turn on the radio in fear, and the media, of course, play to that fear.
They have three or four deaths a day, yet they see these victims as shaheeds, martyrs, and it encourages them. It reinforces their belief that they're fighting a just war. Yet every time an Israeli gets killed by terrorism, we all fall apart. There are many reasons to believe that Israelis will stand up to prolonged pressure and mounting casualties more bravely than their Arab antagonists figure. But that's not going to happen.