Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who offered staggering concessions to Arafat in exchange for words, has now taken over for the comically incompetent Amir Peretz. His first action has been to do what he did as Prime Minister: talk tough to appease the locals while
making staggering concessions for the approval of the international community.
Here is the renewal of the
Really Really Hard Doctrine:
ISRAEL?s new defence minister Ehud Barak is planning an attack on Gaza within weeks to crush the Hamas militants who have seized power there.
According to senior Israeli military sources, the plan calls for 20,000 troops to destroy much of Hamas?s military capability in days.
The raid would be triggered by Hamas rocket attacks against Israel or a resumption of suicide bombings.
Barak, who is expected to become defence minister tomorrow, has already demanded detailed plans to deploy two armoured divisions and an infantry division, accompanied by assault drones and F-16 jets, against Hamas.
A source close to Barak said that Israel could not tolerate an aggressive ?Hamastan? on its border and an attack seemed unavoidable.
?The question is not if but how and when,? he said.