None of these were predictions. Not if you count predicting that the sun will go up tomorrow as a prediction. This is what happens every time.
This would be a tragic farce if nothing changed, but with every engagement the terrorists gained more of what they want. They do more damage, they demonstrate that Israel can't (won't) defeat them and encourage another war. An actual war.
While Hamas gets better weapons, Israel invests in defensive pain management tools like Iron Dome.
"The moment of truth has arrived," Netanyahu said, on resigning from the Sharon government. "At the moment of truth, a man - especially a leader - must ask himself: 'What are you doing, what do you stand for, what are you fighting for?'"
That's what I wrote on Saturday Night in
"A Moment of Truth for Israel". It's still the question to ask.
THE GAME PLAN
The trouble with being on the defensive is that you are react to the plans of others, rather than putting your own planes in motion.
Whose plan was this war?
Here's one possibility.
A day after the ceasefire, Morsi assumed near-dictatorial powers in Egypt. The timing of that is not likely to be a coincidence.
Either Morsi had cleared the assumption of such powers beforehand with Obama or assumed that he had demonstrated his importance to such an extent that Obama would not dare protest this action. It’s likely to be one or the other. And that raises one more troubling question.
Did Morsi give Hamas the go-ahead to launch a conflict with Israel in order to be able to broker a ceasefire and then use that as leverage for seizing domestic power?
Good luck finding out if Morsi and Obama traded tyranny in Egypt for a ceasefire in Gaza. We'll get the answer to that right after we get the situation room report from Benghazigate.
