Israel Leaves the Scuds Behind

Starting with the first Gulf War, Israel went from being the deterrent power in the neighborhood to being the chronic frightened patsy. At least that's what Sheik Nasrallah thought when his men snatched two Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese border. He figured the new prime minister, Ehud Olmert, would meet almost any price to get the soldiers back peacefully. Instead, Olmert attacked. He knew that retaliation would bring on the missiles and rockets, but he evidently thought it was worth the risk. What Olmert didn't know when he gave the order - what the Israeli public itself didn't know - was that the rockets wouldn't cause panic. Fear, yes. Caution, too, and some complaining (this is Israel, after all). But, amazingly, most people in even the most vulnerable areas have behaved with something like the sanguine good nature of the British during the Blitz. For Israelis, fighting back made all the difference.