In Israel, IDF Cheerleading Is Slowly Replaced By Heavy Questions

With yet another tie-in to a post I made earlier today, the Washington Post discusses how many Israelis are beginning to question its leadership and military objectives, as well as the scope, the results, and the deaths inflicted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) against purported Hezbollah (some use Hizbollah) targets in Lebanon where more than a thousand civilians have died. Here:

With much of Israel's northern population huddling in underground shelters and Hezbollah proving more resilient than Israeli leaders had publicly predicted, Israel's news media, intellectual elite and public are starting to question the judgment of the country's political and military leadership.

After an extraordinary national surge of unanimity during the first days of the conflict, public support is starting to fray, with some of the nation's most influential voices criticizing political leaders and Israel Defense Forces generals for military strategies they say have failed to protect Israeli citizens.

They blame Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz for trying to lull citizens into a false sense of security, fault generals for relying too heavily on air power to destroy Hezbollah rocket launchers, and worry that Israeli troops may not have been prepared to defeat a force far tougher than Palestinian fighters.

"The public should demand of the political echelon: Stop or reduce the Katyusha rocket fire," the popular daily newspaper Ma'ariv wrote Friday. "Do what you should have done two weeks ago. . . . Bang on the table in front of the white-faced IDF officers, and demand more proposals; think and think again. . . . The time for patience has passed. You have an army, use it, or go for a cease-fire."

One of the greatest strengths of Israel's people, I have always believed, is their ability to face tough questions head-on as well as the freedom of speech within their media outlets (Ha'aretz, as I've stated many times, is excellent but there are many more good publications/Web venues/broadcast media).