YAALON

IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon has an item entitled "The Israeli Model for Counter-terrorism," which must rank with "The Ken Lay Model for Business Integrity," "The MC Hammer Guide for Successful Investment" and "The Frank Stallone Model for Achieving Mega Super-stardom" as the most eyebrow-raising of all time.

Yaalon:

Strategic considerations in counterterrorist operations must account for the absence of an exclusively military knockout option against terrorism. Policymakers must therefore operate on two fronts against terrorism: the short-term battle against the terrorists and the long-term battle to win the hearts and minds of their constituents.

That's truly priceless coming from the man who notoriously stated that his policy toward the Palestinians was guided by the idea that they "must be made to understand in the deepest recesses of their consciousness that they are a defeated people."

Unsurprisingly, in the course of his remarks, Yaalon makes no mention of the fact that Israel has for almost forty years maintained a crushing occupation of the Palestinian people, or that the daily humiliations and violations of that occupation might play any part in fomenting Palestinian resentment, resistance and terrorism. I'd offer that one of the best defenses against being repeatedly stung by bees is to cease beating their hive with a stick. Or, you could do what Israel has done, which is to continue swatting at them while stealing their honey, and condemning the bees for their anti-Semitism.