Mr. Chairman: Objective: Topple Hamas

Mr. Hanegbi is right,there is nothing to add
but the fact,any day there is no ground attack,Hamas will use to smuggle in more weapons to rise the numver of Israeli Dead.
So a massive ground attack should be done today,not tomorrow - shure you can have
200 "Yekimm" sit down planning,planning,
but hereis an enemy who copes with less,no airforce,no speed boats;no helicopters-no jets ,no tanks,,,,.
I thought the Yekke sit only in kibbutzim,seems they moved in big numbers to the Army of Israel.

yes, BUT: Only if it is irrevocably determined prior to the defeat of Hamas, that Gaza will NOT be subsequently turned over to Abbas. Anything less is not worth the lives of our soldiers -- and they are smart enough to know this. Is the Knesset equally smart?

Sharon correctly states the exit strategy.It will be strategically necessary to redeem Gush Katif. It would be a self dfeating tragedy to allow the PLO to enter afterwards. The Jews who settled the land could return. When the terrorists are removed Gush Katif can bloom again.But we must keep it safe for the people who return. Congratulations to Minister Tzahi Hanegbi on a well reasoned essay.He is his mother's son.

If the USA were attacked by a foreign power, there would be no hesitation with respect to confronting and toppling the regime which perpetrated the assault. It is therefore unbelievable that Israel, a sovereign nation, does not destroy the leadership of Gaza, no questions asked! I am waiting for a politician whom I can support who will rally the Israeli people, see to our protection and overcome the threats to our existence.

What is the point of sacking active terrorist of Hamas dimension from Samaria and wasting the lives of IDF of soldiers, and only to hand the territory to a more subtle, lethal, but deadly passive Fata terrorist of Abu Mazen.

The only reason one would support the sacking of Hamas from Samaria is if Israel should again assert its sovereign right over its land that was turned over to the terrorists in a futile peace appeasement process. I mean the road map to trouble, perdition, and wars which would endager the life of Israel as a Jewish nation under God's sovereignty.

Won't this course of action bring on a major global onslaught for Israel to enfranchise the remaining residents after the battle is over? What will happen to Israel's alliances with the Democratic West after this is undertaken? This looks like a good way of fulfilling Arafat's original wish in initiating Intifada 2000, ganging the entire world against us. Maybe we should go through this scenario and see where the dust settles, or maybe we should try and complete Ariel Sharon's project despite the difficulties. It is not an easy call.

Sharon #2 is absolutely right. Israel can't afford to do the dirty job for Abbas. Full scale operation in Gaza will cost Israel dozans and may be hundreds of Israeli soldiers lives. Israel should undertake such an operation only for her benefits not others. First and foremost goal shoud be to take control of 10-15 square miles adjacent to border with Egypt. Let them build tunnels 3-4 miles long.The rest of the area should be cleansed from Hamas completely. All weapons, explosives etc. must be destroyed.

The return to an expanded Gush Katif and Chomesh must be part of it .We can see where withdrawals,appeasement, weakness leads.The Torah repeatedly states ,and the Lubavitcher Rebbe reminds us ,that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews.

Although I agree with many of the sentiments here, there is a politcal reality we must deal with. The world recocnizez Gaza at belonging to the Palestinians. Israel would again be the focus of world protests about "apartide" and the Arab world would demand an economic boycott of Israel untill Gaza is returned. We can not create a new refugee situation for the Arabs to exploit. Perhaps a joint excersise with Fatah involved. Let them fight and loose soldiers and maybe then they will appreciate the land and ensure the end to Hammas.

First try and work out a peace agreement with Hamas. It was elected by the masses. Fatah in their eyes were corrupt, secular opportunists. Israel hates its own religious e.g. forcible evacuation of mostly religious settlers. Israel's negation of its religious resulted in facing religious Hamas instead. Unlike the Israeli settlers, religious Hamas isn't about to surrender. If Hamas rejects earnest peace gestures by the Israelis, and continues firing then Israel has the right to topple them.
Same thing should be done with Iran.

Why don't the Arabs who so freely whine about the plight of the Palestinians open up their countries to the Palestinians????

If the Arabs felt strong enough to do to Israel what I think we shoud do to them, ther would have been NO ISRAEL NOW.
So, lets' go by the dictates of our Torah,
"Haboo l'horgoch, hashkaim l'horgoi"....

israel should have annexed this territory in 1967 as well as the so called west bank. hopefully israel will now respect itself as a sovereign nation and eliminate the jungle animals around it. it has both the legal and moral rights to do so. in the long run, as in the iraqi nuclear operation, the world will thank israel.