Dear LEGO,

<<What I can't figure out, is why you think that they are wrong for the Israelis to be militarily strong in order to prevent themselves from being exterminated.>>

On the contrary: I believe that Israel should remain militarily very strong, even retaining its nuclear weapons. I definitely don't want my family exterminated.

I do however believe that the prolonged holding onto the territories taken in 1967 weakens Israel in three ways:

1) It corrupts Israel morally and splits it from within, thus reducing its morale and the desire of its citizens to remain and contribute.

2) It isolates Israel in the international arena.

3) It diverts large amounts of troops into policing duties in the West Bank, guarding the settlers instead of training and arming for more serious threats, such as Iran.

Yes, Iran is a serious threat and there's no easy answer. It's good that Israel at least has the 2nd-strike capability, so that if ever an Iranian bomb hits Israel, then within a few minutes Iran would cease to exist as well, probably half of the world also.

Note that the Iranians are not Arabs. Unlike the Arabs, Iran used to be Israel's best friend. The reason they hate Israel that much is because historically, Israel was the closest ally of the Shah, which they cannot forgive.

<<The war is entirely religious. Islam is a warriors religion>>

To that extent, Islam is not a religion at all, but a political movement. To think of those atrocities in terms of religion, is to agree with the perpetrators that they indeed are doing God's will. Of course they are not!

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<<Your seem to be suggesting that the Israelis should hand back the Golan because the Syrians would never place artillery on it again, and that if they did, Israel could easily destroy it.>>

That's not the reason, that's the opportunity. I suggest that Israel should vacate the Golan for its own interests: both in order to recover from its 1967 moral wounds and in order to stop its isolation and gain respect in the international community. I also suggest that due to the Syrian civil-war, this is probably the safest time to do so, while the balance of power is extremely different now than in 1973. Should troubles ever arise again on Israel's north-eastern border, Israel could easily handle it, including by retaking that area if necessary, but this time without the corruption of 1967 and without the objection of the rest of the world.

You seem to think that if Israel returns to it's 1967 borders, that this would satisfy the Arabs and the Muslims. That is nonsense. Nothing but the complete extermination of Israel will satisfy those people because their objection to Israel's existence is entirely religious. How it weakens the Israelis "morally' to take back their own ancestral land from the people who conquered them is something I don't get. The only "isolation" that Israel suffers from is from those people in the west who dream of Israel's extermination, or from those who think that wars can be avoided if everybody just held hands and sang "Kumbaya." My own perception, at least among my own working class demographic, is that most people support Israel and despise the crazy Arabs. If your friends think differently, then it is time to find a better class of friend.

Using troops to guard against the enemy within is, I agree, militarily and economically wasteful. it would be far more effective for the Israelis to drive the enemy populations which reside within Israel back over the border into the lands of Israel's enemies. But the Israelis are just too damn nice to do what needs to be done. Although, making life miserable for the enemies who reside within your own lands could possibly do the job of making them realise that they have no future in Israel. And I think that this is what the Israelis are doing. Just keep squeezing your enemies by taking their more of the land that they once stole off you, and give them the hint to move on.

But this is the primary reason why the Arab nations will not allow the "Palestinians" to become citizens of their own counties. That would solve the problem of the poor oppressed Palestinians, but the Arab leaders could not give a damn about the poor oppressed Palestinians. They need an enemy to direct their own people's hatred from their sorry lifestyles and the complete failure of Islam to provide an acceptable standard of living compared to the western, Asian and Jewish civilisations

Dear LEGO,

<<You seem to think that if Israel returns to it's 1967 borders, that this would satisfy the Arabs and the Muslims.>>

Not at all. I have no expectations from them. If they are unsatisfied, then it's their own problem.

<<their objection to Israel's existence is entirely religious.>>

It is not, because it has nothing to do with God.
If you claim that it is religious, then you believe that this brings them closer to God - but it doesn't!

<<How it weakens the Israelis "morally' to take back their own ancestral land...>>

Even if one has a valid objective, achieving it by immoral means is still immoral. The means are at least as important as the goal.

The "6-day" war was a corrupt one, conducted by a corrupt regime. For you and me it was a relief that Israel survived, but the true historical motivation for the occupation was Moshe Dayan's desire to increase his private archaeological collection by venturing into previously-inaccessible areas full of archaeological specimens.

This particular war has ruined the moral fabric and humility of Israelis, introducing violence and militarism as the norm, so in order to recover Israel should stop enjoying its fruits. It's a totally internal Israeli matter that has nothing to do with Arabs.

The extreme weakness of the Arabs now permits Israel to recover on its moral front.

<<Using troops to guard against the enemy within is, I agree, militarily and economically wasteful. it would be far more effective for the Israeli>>

I was referring to guarding the settlers in the West Bank, not within Israel itself.

<<Although, making life miserable for the enemies who reside within your own lands>>

Nobody should be made deliberately miserable if it can be avoided. The only valid reason for Israel to fight, is to defend its people from extermination.

You admit that if the Israel's is returned to the 1967 borders, you have no expectation that the Arabs would leave the Israelis alone. If the Israelis were stupid enough to do what you would like them to do, it would leave them wide open to attack. The Golan in particular has given them room to manoeuvre their armoured divisions, space to fight in before enemy armoured formations could reach the populated areas of Israel, and prevents the northern half of Israel from becoming uninhabitable through artillery bombardment.

Your position appears to be, that it is better to be exterminated while being moral, than defend yourself by being immoral. Cuckoo. Cuckoo. I think it was Socrates who said that the highest morality as "the protection of one's own people." You seem to have a rigid idea of what morality is involved here, with the Israelis the aggressors because they have stolen somebody else's land. My moral perception, is that there is nothing morally wrong with stealing land from people who stole it from you, and who have been exterminating or enslaving your people for 1,700 years, beginning with their own Prophet.

The Six Day War was begun by the Arabs who were flaunting their Soviet acquired military hardware and openly bragging about how easy it would be to destroy the Jews. So convinced of victory were they, that even Arab countries like Jordon, who wanted to keep out of it, felt that victory was so certain that they would look contemptuous in the eyes of their own people if they did not participate in the war. Nasser began the war with the blockade of the Israeli port of Eilat. A blockade is an act of war. Once war begins, then the aggressors who started it can hardly complain if the enemy they wanted to liquidate takes some of their territory, to make themselves more defensible.

Of course, this is what the Arabs are doing now. I find it incredible that people like yourself believe them, and cast them as the victims of the people they clamoured to wipe out.

Dear LEGO,

<<The Golan in particular has given them room to manoeuvre their armoured divisions>>

Armoured divisions are a weapon of the past. Anyway, the Syrian army no longer has available divisions for that, besides it's under obligation not to come close to the Golan, which is monitored by U.N. troops. If they come anywhere near, then Israel can retake the area in no time before Syria gets a chance to threaten anything.

<<Your position appears to be, that it is better to be exterminated while being moral>>

Extermination is not on the cards at the moment or for the foreseeable future - not because the Arabs wouldn't want to, but because they don't have the power to do so. Israel has recently obtained such new weapons that would crush any attempted attack faster than ever, including by Hezbollah.

As the people of Israel are already protected by their army well and beyond from any Arab threat, there is no need and no justification to use more force than required.

<<You seem to have a rigid idea of what morality is involved here, with the Israelis the aggressors because they have stolen somebody else's land.>>

Morality is involved in anything we do, but I didn't mention "aggressors" or "stolen land".

All I said is that holding onto those cursed territories is detrimental to Israel's well-being, that those territories are poisonous and ruin Israel from within. For years, while the Arabs constituted a tangible threat to Israel, one could argue that it is not safe to let go of those territories: now that the Arabs no longer threaten Israel (because they can't), Israel can afford to turn inward and repair the internal damage caused by the 1967 war - for its own good, not for the Arabs' sake.

If I were an Arab, then my best strategy would be to sit and do nothing, waiting patiently for Israel to be digested and disintegrated on its own by the trap it swallowed in 1967. Fortunately for Israel, it still exists because the continued foolish Arab provocations still keep it somewhat united.

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