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Israel: a once-proud country on the skids?Reader comment on item: Lessons of the War in Gaza Submitted by Michael S. (United States), Sep 8, 2014 at 19:23 You are correct, Tovey, that the war is larger than this latest Gaza element; and it if far from over. Israel has "lost" the most recent conflict; because the Anti-Israel war is largely a war of perceptions. After the tremendous, miraculous victories in 1948 and 1967, Israel was perceived as invincible. With the Entebbe raid in 1976, Israel seemed omnipresent and unstoppable. Then came years of degradation: ceding Sinai, invading but then precipitously quitting Lebanon, the Oslo Wars and the retreat from Gaza in 2005. Today, Israel has pulled back to its frontier after an unsuccessful attack on an enclave barely 25 miles long and four miles wide -- and at that, Israel was helped throughout by Egypt, its old enemy, while the Gazans received no Arab support beyond lip service. The net perception of Israel, therefore, is that of a once-proud country on the skids. I personally believe that Israel is potentially a very strong country; but it is failing. In the past, one could excuse Israel's shortcomings, by saying it was under the thumb ot the US. To support this view today, one could note the fact that Mr. Obama is the most anti-Israel President in US history. On the other hand, Mr. Obama's opinions are being largely ignored by other countries such as Russia, China, Iran and even Afghanistan. He is being publicly taunted in the Ukraine, the South China Sea and elsewhere. Only Israel seems to be using him as their excuse for failure. Israel has a problem, a big problem; one described in Joshua 7; and the solution is in Joshua 8. Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". Reader comments (59) on this item
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