The Problem with Hamas

TEL AVIV, Israel -- In a recent post aptly entitled "Bringing the Negotiating Table to Hamas," Judah tempered his critical view of Israeli policies with the acknowledgement that he was writing "from the comfort of a Paris apartment, beyond missile range from Gaza." Indeed, things look quite different from where I live, which is just on the outskirts of Tel Aviv-Yaffo -- and just on the edge of the area threatened by missiles from Gaza. When I look south from my balcony, I can see Ashdod, which has already been struck by missiles with deadly consequences.

This goes to illustrate that Israel is simply too small a country to leave its southern towns and villages -- and the almost one million citizens who live there -- exposed to the constant threat of rockets launched by a regime whose armed wing boasted only recently that Israel was "hopeless and desperate" in the face of the relentless attacks: