Dear Bazz,

«It is a waste of time arguing about a two nation settlement.»

Indeed, like attempting to open a door that is already open!

An Israeli-Palestinian settlement ALREADY exists.
Both sides want and agree to continue fighting.
Just because some people sit securely here in Australia and dislike this settlement, does not mean that it does not exist!

Two weeks ago, Netanyahu was in big trouble: he was about to lose his control over Israel, which could mean that his family goes bankrupt and he finds himself in prison on corruption/bribery charges.
So he made an urgent phone call, asking his friend from the Hamas in Gaza for help... and it worked!
Some 100's of casualties later, 1000's wounded and destruction in the billions, the missiles have spoken and all calls to replace Netanyahu have been silenced. Mission accomplished, both sides are very happy and promise to continue to cooperate in future.

For those who's total ignorance of history is utterly appalling, let me correct you with facts.

Of course the Yom Kippur war was a complete surprise to Israel. It was such a surprise that the Arabs nearly won. And if they had won they would have exterminated the state of Israel, looted the place, killed every man, and raped every Jewish woman and girl. True to their Islamic way of war, they would have rewarded their Jihadi soldiers by allowing them to take the Jewish women and girls as "wives" and sex slaves. The Jewish children would have been forcibly converted to Islam and made Muslims.

The Jewish defences on the Suez were indeed formidable but very thinly held. The Golan was defended by a very thin screen of Centurion tanks because almost all Israeli soldiers were home with their families for Yom Kippur.

What stopped the Arabs was the determination of that very thin screen of Israeli soldiers to die in the bunkers and tanks, rather than give an inch to the invading hordes of murdering and raping Arabs. The Arabs, confident in their overwhelming numbers, and dreaming of their rape and pillage rewards, were no match for men who knew exactly what would happen to their families if the Arabs broke through. Jews don't walk meekly into the gas chambers anymore.

And break through on both fronts the Arabs nearly did. Israel started fuelling up their Jericho nuclear armed ballistic missiles, and if the Arabs had broken through to exterminate Israel, it would have been goodbye Damascus, goodbye Cairo, goodbye Amman, and goodbye Baghdad. No great loss anyway.

The USA's orbiting satellites picked up the preparations for launch, and in a panic US President Nixon rang Soviet dictator Brezhnev to tell him about it. The USSR threatened Israel with nuclear retaliation if they launched. Israel told Brezhnev to get stuffed. It was now a matter of survival, and if Israel was going to be exterminated, it would take its enemies with them.

Fortunately, the magnificent IDF mobilised in time and they turned the tables on the Arab armies.

Dear Yuyutsu,

Rubbish mate.

Even the police chief places the blame for this violence squarely on the head of Knesset member Itamar Ben Gvir. Netanyahu has had to swing even further to the right to form government and this has been the direct result.

"Referring to the uprising, Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai reportedly told the PM: "The person who is responsible for this intifada is Itamar Ben Gvir.""

No phone calls needed.

"Yom Kippur really wasn't a surprise attack. "

The Israelis knew, or at least suspected, that the Arabs would launch another war against them in the near future. But the timing was a surprise and consequently they were unprepared for the attack when it came. You just asserting otherwise doesn't cut the mustard.

"They had significant strategic advantage with well constructed lines in the Heights and the Sinai. The attackers were always going to suffer significant losses in taking them."

Yes. As a rough rule of thumb, an attacker against a well designed defensive position will need a numerical advantage of 3 or 5 to 1.
The Arabs had much more than that. But you seem to be saying they stood no chance. So are you suggesting their defeat was inevitable and therefore they were idiots to launch the war?

"The ambitions of the Egyptians and Syrians were to reclaim land lost in 67. I don't think there was a single enemy tank or soldier who entered any part of Israel proper."

Sadat said he wanted push Israel back to its pre-1967 boarders. So not just Sinai and Golan. The enemy didn't get to Israel proper because they were comprehensively defeated!! What a berk.

"it plainly wasn't [an existential threat to Israel]". Yeah well you just asserting it, doesn't cut the mustard.

Sadat "ask[ed] the IDF be moved back 32KMs east of the canal". Any evidence for that? There's plenty of evidence of Sadat saying he wanted the whole of Sinai back.

Death of women and kids.

It was SR and Armchair who slavishly parroted the Hamas propaganda by talking about the dead in Gaza while ignoring the dead in Israel.

All deaths are regrettable, especially of non-combatants. But only the apologists for Hamas want to use those deaths for propaganda value. That's why I mentioned the Israeli deaths and specifically asked SR and/or AC to show the same compassion for those deaths as they purported to show for the Palestinian deaths. They have declined to do so.

While the deaths are regrettable, they are inevitable in war. Especially when Hamas is deliberately trying to kill non-combatants while using their own peoples as human shields for the leadership. They are also inevitable when 10% of the Hamas rockets misfire and hit their own people.

"\I'm still waiting for SteeleRedux to tell us if all the Palestinian casualties would still have occurred if the Hamas indoctrinated hadn't fired their rockets ?