In a bleak world, Israel provides a ray of hope

They are continuing the fight against Hamas

Most observers expected Israel to withdraw from Gaza once the international whining reached a crescendo. But Israel is actually upping the operational tempo in Gaza. Lame duck Olmert is leading the charge. Haaretz reports:

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that he hoped to see a quick end to Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip, but emphasized that the war would go on until Hamas ceased its rocket fire and its smuggling tunnels were decimated,

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Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said earlier Monday that there was no reason to negotiate with Hamas over restoring calm to the Gaza Strip as the group's words were "meaningless."

"I am not going to negotiate with Hamas and don't need them to sign anything for me. What they said is meaningless. This is what is called deterrence: they know that the next time they attack us, they will be harmed," the foreign minister told Israeli radio stations.

Livni said that additional military operations in the Gaza Strip could also be in the cards should "Hamas dare raise its head and strike Israel again. The war on terror will be long and difficult and we will use military force because that is how one fights terror ? with military force and no alternatives. When they fire [rockets], I've said before, we must return the fire."

Livni said that the current operation in Gaza has proven to Hamas that Israel will always respond to provocation. "Israel is a country that reacts vigorously when its citizens are fired up, which is a good thing," she said. "That is something that Hamas now understands and that is how we are going to react in the future."

Meanwhile, sources close to Olmert confirmed Sunday that he continues to disagree with Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak regarding the question of continuing the warfare in Gaza.

The so-called troika met Sunday evening to discuss the subject, and both Barak and Livni reportedly argued for ending Operation Cast Lead as soon as possible. This is apparently the reason Olmert wants to present the issue to the security cabinet, where the majority supports his view.

Livni contends that continuing the offensive could harm the deterrence it has achieved so far and damage Israel diplomatically. Barak objects mainly to inserting ground troops deep into densely populated areas of Gaza. For his part, Olmert told the full cabinet Sunday that stopping Operation Cast Lead now would be a missed opportunity.

Sources close to Olmert said Sunday, after the meeting of the three, that most of the security cabinet supports Olmert's stand or even believe the operation should be expanded. Olmert is likely to convene the security cabinet today to seek approval for an expansion of the operation.

Olmert's associates also said no one in the security cabinet supported Livni's position and that a few Labor ministers support Barak's position that an agreement should be reached with Hamas.

Olmert told the full cabinet Sunday: "The pressure we are exerting [on Hamas] must not be reduced. Anyone who broadcasts weakness will earn the good will of the global community for 12 seconds, but will not change anything essential."

Olmert learned a lot from the Lebanon debacle. Barak and Livni did not.

Israel needs to adopt an extremely aggressive posture towards Iran as the Obama administration takes over. It has the ability to force Obama to take the tough decisions by threatening to do what the rest of the world won't do; destroy Iran;s nuclear wapons program. Obama will have to decide between supporting Israel or letting Iran and the rest of the Middle East go nuclear.

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