Raffi Eitam, formerly commande- in-chief of the IDF forces in Lebanon and now a member in the Security and Foreign Affairs committee in the Knesset, says:


Israel should not agree to the cease-fire. Even the claim that we cannot say no to our ally dwarfs vis a vis the severe results of a cease fire under the current circumstances. We should pay attention to the fact that even Lebanon declined to accept the cease fire draft resolution. We must remember that this carries with it long term consequences as far as Israel’s survivability is concerned in a region in which an axis of radical Islamic evil is being consolidated. Such a coalition has very little interest in territorial compromises… The entire aim of this coalition is the complete and total liquidation of Israel as an independent Zionist Jewish entity. That is the size of the threat, which must guide Israel’s actions.

This is the moment of truth. We have to choose between continuing to nurture our illusions, white-washing the words and collection of dubious triumphs. We must tell ourselves the truth, once and for all. And this facing up to the truth means dealing with the fact that we have not yet won the battle, we have not yet accumulated enough achievements on the battlefield to pave the way to a political process which may create a genuine new opportunity. Victory can be declared only when the four objectives we set up to achieve in the beginning of the war will have been accomplished.

(Excerpted from a longer article and translated by Noga)