Many media outlets are typifying Israel’s response as “horrific,” “disproportionate” — some go so far as to suggest it’s tantamount to “mass murder” and of children as well.

Israelis themselves are questioning the response.

Haaretz columnist, Akiva Eldar writes, in his column entitled “The way out of Gaza:”

The tremendous population density in the Gaza Strip does not allow a “surgical operation” over an extended period that would minimize damage to civilian populations. The difficult images from the Strip will soon replace those of the damage inflicted by Qassam rockets in the western Negev. The scale of losses, which works in ‘favor’ of the Palestinians, will return Israel to the role of Goliath.”

Further, he writes:

The uncensored images broadcast by Al Jazeera to hundreds of millions of homes in the Arab world do not work to the benefit of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was photographed several days ago speaking with Livni. A single Qana-like incident would be enough to make the masses of refugees congregate at the Rafah crossing and sabotage the unwritten agreement between Israel and Egypt against Hamas.

Last Sunday, December 28th, hundreds of persons fleeing Gaza broached the border with Egypt. What most didn’t hear or don’t know is that Egypt reacted by sending hundreds of Egyptian troops to the border, who fired into the masses, wounding many. Disproportionate? Understanding of their fellow Arab and Palestinian brothers and sisters?

As I wrote before (Wednesday, 12-31-08), the Arab world could end this in 24 hours by providing land for the “Palestinians.” But the topic is not even raised. By anyone. Arab brothers are not interested in helping their fellow brothers.

Clearly the bulk of the media and portions of the world object to Israel’s military response, that much is obvious.

On the other hand, Sammy Benoit (our famous Yid With Lid: please check my Suspects sidebar!) writes in his IsraelNationalNews.com article “Questions About Proportionality“: how many rockets would make it okay?

How many Jews had to die to make Israel’s response proportionate – five, ten, 100? Should the United Nations develop a system that gives a value to each life and determines when they could be protected? How many Israelis equals the self-defense “tipping point”? How many English? Since they never have the guts to fight, would the French be more or less?

So I ask again: How many rockets make it okay to protect your citizens? Was America’s response to the How many bombs can land in Britain before the British can respond?bombing of Pearl Harbor “disproportionate”? What about England’s response to the bombing of London during World War II? The Nazis were trying to destroy England in the same way Hamas is trying to destroy Israel.

My question to the Media and the World is then: what should Israel’s response have been?

Oddly enough, I hear many complaints but no, repeat, no suggestions.

. . . have already begun.

They started under the heading of Blagojevich, and Chicago, and Rev. Jackson, and Pastors Wright and Pfleger and Rahm Emanuel and Joe the Plumber and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and William Ayers and Bernardette Dohrn and Antoin Rezko and Eric Holder and — now —

Mexican Bill Richardson has decided:

Eh, not so much interested:

WASHINGTON (AP) – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday announced that he was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama’s commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation into how some of his political donors won a lucrative state contract.

You know: for an administration that has promised, time and again, to be the most ethical administration this nation has ever seen. . .

I’m thinking: not so much.

And guess what?

It ain’t even January 20th, ladies and gentlemen.

Happy with your selection, eh?

Now, it turns out, Hamas is purposely targeting a nuclear power reactor in Israel (as captured by above photo) with its rockets, mortars and weapons:

There were growing fears in Israel last night that Hamas missiles could threaten its top-secret nuclear facility at Dimona.

Rocket attacks from Gaza have forced Israelis to flee in ever greater numbers and military chiefs have been shaken by the size and sophistication of the militant group’s arsenal.

Israeli officials say that Hamas has also acquired dozens of Iranian-made Fajr-3 missiles with an even longer range. Many fear that as the group acquires ever more sophisticated weaponry it is only a matter of time before the nuclear installation at Dimona, 20 miles east of Beersheba, falls within its sights. Dimona houses Israel’s only nuclear reactor and is believed to be where nuclear warheads are stored.

And consider this very important paragraph from the Times UK story:

Israel’s worst nightmare is that soon all its cities will be within range either of the Hezbollah Katyushas arrayed on the Lebanese border to the north or the increasingly sophisticated missiles stockpiled by Hamas to the south. Both groups have links to Israel’s archenemy Iran.

Do you understand the strategic point made? Israel is soon to be caught directly between two hostile Islamist forces, like a pincer movement, Hezbollah on the north and Hamas to the south, both armed with missiles able to strike any point within Israel.

Much of this predicament, unfortunately, is of Israel’s doing.

Despite that, Israel is massing troops, tanks and weapons, ready to enter Gaza.

In concert with the larger, more deadly rockets deployed against Israel, Hamas vowed to “strike at Zionist interests everywhere.”

Finally, it appears, Israelis have had enough:

A majority of the Israeli public is supporting the Gaza offensive, with some 95 percent of Jewish residents backing the air strikes according to a survey published on Friday in the Maariv daily.

The situation is about to get even more dangerous, very, very quickly.

BZ