'Arab anger toward Israel "weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes," ... Take away those "moderate" regimes - such as Hosni Mubarak's government in Egypt - and Israel would presumably be in a world of trouble.'

A mis-reading of the Middle East.
Egyptians are not Arabs.

Why are the assumptions made, the repressive pan-Arab aligned Socialist Dictatorship of Mubarak was 'moderate' and the newly democrately elected Egyptian government of Morsei won't be moderate?

Something about those assumptions is terribly wrong and doesn't fit with any understanding of our Western Liberal Democratic traditions.

The other Socialist regimes that have fallen since the US defeat of The Iraqi dictator and the subsequent relatively peaceful insertion of Democracy in Iraq has caused the massive people led change in the Mid East.

The biggest single change has been the underlying rejection, unspoken or recognised anywhere, of the dominace of the Socialist tenet of pan-Arabism.

No longer are middle east nations defining themselves as Arab. They are seeing themselves as Egyptiams, Iraqis, Iranians, Jordanians, Palestinians etc.

The only loser nation in that change is Israel. No longer do the militarist Jewish dominated Government of Israel have a single broad target to attack and vilify as enemies.

Israel cannot now claim it is surrounded by a 'tyrannical, misogynist and Jihadist' Arab world.

This latest incursion into Gaza is the death throes of militarism in the mid east.


It is now surrounded or becoming surrounded by democraticaly elected Governments... who represent the views of and have respect for all their citizens.

That makes Israel look less like a Western Liberal democracy than it's neighbours. As these Governments start to peacefully take Israel to task for it's repressive measures and it's undemocratic and illegal occupation, for it's landstealing and militarism they will win approval and support for their actions throughout the Western Liberal Democracies.

Israel will hurt itself by fighting this peacefulness with military attacks and deceiptful propaganda.

To survive Israel needs to fundamentally change and adopt Western Liberal Democratic peacefulness... just as recently have many of the other sematic nations of the Arab speaking world.

To me, both the Jews and the Arabs are basically the same good people with different religions. They are just being caught in a fight dictated by fate. Neither sides want to give in or give up. Both sides are determined to stand their ground with all they have.

Well, what can we do? We should just respect their decisions and let them fight. Don't take side. It won't help. Don't pretend you care and try to stop the fight. The fact is that had the wars in the past been allowed to end properly, say, the losers had acknowledged the victor and settled the matter once for and all, the conflict wouldn't have had lasted for so long.

People die, yes, but if you stopped the war before it reaches a proper conclusion, more people die in the following years, similar to an open wound continue to bleed. The reality is beyond our wishful thinking and people must be realistic. Let them fight a short, brutal, bloody, but decisive war.

Just imagine what would have happened if the US didn't defeat Japan in the Second World War. See what have happened after the half-pregnant Lebanon War, more trouble.

Peng

Not all non-Jewish middle easterners are Arabs.

All people of the middle east, including the Arabs and Jews are racially semetic people. Some speak Arabic and some speak Hebrew and some speak other dialects and languages.

After the defeat of Japan, the victorious western liberal democracies maintained an occupation which oversaw the reconstruction of Japan and we assisted the Japanese to install democracy, as we did in Iraq. We assisted the re settlement of refugees. That occupation was scaled down and eventually dismantled.

That has not been the case in any of the conflicts between the Israeli government, it's neighbours or those of it's citizens who were forced to become refugees. ie the Palestinian people of Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel hates, preaches hate and formally instils hate in it's children.

imajulianutter:

"Israel cannot now claim it is surrounded by a 'tyrannical, misogynist and Jihadist' Arab world"

Now let's see: On Israel's southern border, we have the benevolent Hamas movement ruling Gaza. In the north we have Hezbollah, another group with nothing but noble intentions towards Israel. In the north east, we have Assad’s Syria, a beacon of freedom and tranquillity. Yes, I can see your point, no 'tyrannical, misogynist and Jihadist' regimes whatsoever.

"Israel will hurt itself by fighting this peacefulness with military attacks and deceiptful propaganda"

Peacefulness? Right, I'm sure peace is the real intention behind the daily missile barrage from Gaza into Israel. What would you suggest the Israelis should do? Sit back and enjoy the daily rockets?

Rhosty, it is my understanding that the Israelis are already using drones to keep the Palestinians under surveillance. It is also highly likely that drones are being used as attack weapons much the same as the Yanks are using them in Pakistan.

David

Avw

You forgot Egypt ruled by a Muslim Brotherhood / Salafist alliance with a tendency to persecute Coptic Christians.

We also have Iraq where some Shia factions seem determined to wage Jihad on the Sunnis and other Shia sects.

And BTW I would not like to be a Syrian Christian or Alawite when the Assad regime finally falls.

And let's not even talk about the Iranian Mullahs or the Saudis.

Yep, not a tyrannical misogynist or Jihadi in sight.