Hi All
I peruse the English newspapers most mornings (Telegraph, Guardian, Times of London, etc.) as well as following the soccer news from the Premier League. Israel of course is never out of the news and mostly its negative.
As Max wrote we are not politically involved nor are we regular bloggers. We are simply ordinary people living on a kibbutz in Western Galilee, Israel.

I read all the editorials and blogs about Israel being disproportionate in its reactions and I think to myself what would be the reaction if a radical group in New Jersey started lobbing rockets on the civilian population in Manhattan or fundamentalists in Calais began shooting missiles over the English channel at ordinary folk in Dover. I think we all know the answer. It's the basic duty of government to protect its citizens. Any country would exercise this right so why is Israel singled out as the aggressor when it is defending the lives of its citizens.
The truth is the plight of the Palestinians will never never be addressed as long as they have an extreme fundamentalist Hamas ruling over them. They may have been elected in a popular vote while ousting a corrupt Fatah and later killing many of them but if their main political platform is the destruction of Israel whatever it takes even if it means that ordinary citizens become human shields in a war zone then the ultimate victims will always be the ordinary citizens on both sides. How can there be a lasting peace when one side isn't interested in a peaceful solution? How can one talk peace with those who don't want peace. Israel is now on the front line against Islamic fundamentalist ideologies on its doorstep who, if not confronted, will target the Western democracies further down the line.

There's no rejoicing in Israel at the death of innocents quite the opposite but what does one do? turn the other cheek to aggression on its own civilians!

Despite tragic mistakes over the years by successive leaders on both sides of the divide I think the silent majority in Israel are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices in order to achieve a lasting and viable peace based on a two-state solution living within recognized borders - but for this you need two to tango.
Have a good weekend
Baruch