Dear Foxy,

«however we should care about
the present and what can be done. The land must be
shared, people must be treated equally. It can be done
if the will is there.»

Yes, the land should be shared and people treated equally,
but that would not address the present, nor unfortunately is the will there.

Hamas and the other Iranian proxies would never stop even if Israel turned out to be the nicest people on earth.
Netanyahu too would never stop, knowing that what awaits him on the other end are only prison and endless shame, the continuation of his criminal trial and the gruesome investigation into his gross failure to listen to intelligence warnings and protect Israel on October 7th.

The world could be a much better place if both him and Sinwar committed Harakiri, as any decent leader who betrayed and injured his people so badly should.

«If the Diaspora Jews brought pressure to bear on the
Israeli government»

I doubt Netanyahu can care about anything other than his criminal trial. And then, pressure him into what? Into a cease-fire perhaps? As Mhaze just mentioned, he offered that already.

«Israel must change or it will destroy itself."»

Israel has been destroying itself for the last 56 years, and indeed it must change, but that is a long-term objective with little to do with the present crisis.

Only one thing can stop the present intense bloodshed and that is the release of the hostages.

The UN security council just resolved for "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages".
Israel is happy to abide by that resolution, but will Hamas abide by it, or does it think that Gazans under its control are not suffering enough yet?

Yuyutsu,

What a bleak outlook.

I find the call for a cease-fire somewhat hypocritical, as the focus is on one side only. No one is calling for the murderous Hamas that shot the young girl in the face to lay down its arms.

Israel is exterminating the murderers of women and children and should be left to root out this evil.

Shadow Minister,

By killing other innocent women and children?

Hi Yuyutsu,

"The difference being that Israel is still a democracy with a good chance for a non-violent regime change, something you cannot say about Iran."

I'm not so sure about that, democracy assumes the voters can have free and fair elections, a rule of law, including equal rights of the people...

"Would you then be more supportive of Israel had it still been more allied with Russia?"
- I'd be more supportive of Israel if they dropped the Nazi-like attitude and actions and put the issues of diplomacy, negotiations, compromise front and centre in the manner of it's borders - leading to an agreement that would create peace. Then, if Palestinians breached the peace I would denounce them instead.

"Members of my family prepare and send nice cooked meals for the troops in Gaza, and it's not because they have any liking for the politicians who give them the orders."
- You know I'm not keen on the IDF as they act with hatred and vengeance (trained to do so) but I don't begrudge your families acts of kindness towards people who put their lives at risk to defend you.

"This describes the present Israeli government and their Jewish-settler supporters, not the people of Israel."
- Well Netanyahu may have a 4% approval rating, but 90% of Israeli citizens support the current actions against Hamas and Palestinians, many want the IDF to crack down even harder.

[Cont.]
"But they don't show you these two 5-year-olds, who were taken for a motorbike ride by a Hamas scout as he reported on Israeli positions, who were kept alive and well by conscientious Israeli soldiers who placed their lives at risk as a result."
- I'm not familiar with the event you mention, but if they're alive then they're the lucky ones, I hope they don't have injuries or are traumatised by what they've been through.
Beyond that my concerns are more for the needless dead or gravely wounded kids.

"Same for Israeli hostages."
Israel has possibly gotten more of them killed than Hamas has killed.
Israel has taken more Palestinians hostage since this started than they've released. Yesterday they rounded up 700 Palestinian men to torture and interrogate no doubt.

"Exactly the same as what could become of you had you been facing their situation."
- So why are the same considerations not offered equally for the Palestinians?