It's been a bad day in the middle east. 6 Israelis dead and 8 Palestinians killed in retaliation in the worst day of violence since the Intifada started.

Death Toll in Mideast Mounts as Recriminations Spiral

In an audacious attack on a West Bank outpost on Tuesday night, Palestinian gunmen killed six Israeli soldiers and then escaped, stunning an army that had already been reeling from the deaths of seven soldiers since Thursday.
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With the death toll mounting and more Israelis drawing a parallel between this fight and the army's 18- year war of attrition in Lebanon, some politicians and analysts are urging the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip; others are calling for a partial or complete reoccupation of the territories, some of which Israel has ceded to Palestinian control; and still others are demanding the unilateral withdrawal of Israeli soldiers.

The debate has not gone unnoticed by Palestinians. One Palestinian analyst of Israeli affairs said on Palestinian television, "Israeli society is disintegrating and fragmenting. Sharon is now in a historic dilemma, and he is completely hopeless."
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Israel's leaders are up against the old guns and butter promises. You can't have both.

Occupation or prosperity

In the past year, it has become increasingly clear that it is impossible to conduct a normal economy while the state's resources are aimed at perpetuating the occupation and the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The real remedy for the economic crisis will be found when Israel deals with the root causes of the conflict with the Palestinians. Only a determined effort to reach reconciliation between the two peoples, based on ending the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state beside the state of Israel, can result in peace and economic prosperity. By promising it can have the territories as well as peace, security and prosperity, the government is deceiving the public.
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Israeli society is polarizing. It probably always has been. Now it is all coming out in the open. The left wants to pull out of Palestine and the far right wants to kill all the Palestinains.

The beginning of the end, perhaps

True, it is far from the end of the politics of blind force. The killings still feed the rage, vengeance and tank-barrel policies. And even if there is mounting criticism of Sharon, it could yet bring back Benjamin Netanyahu. That failed former leader has no more valuable asset than the hazy national memory. But on both sides of the spectrum there is mounting pressure for a change in direction. For Uzi Landau, Benny Elon, Effi Eitam, Avigdor Lieberman and their like, it's time to conquer territory, smash the Palestinian Authority and banish the Palestinians to God knows where or how. Landau suggests doing to them "what the Iraqis did to the Kurds."

On the other side, after a lengthy and paralyzing trauma, some sleeping forces have awakened. Their demonstrations haven't yet reached a critical mass. They don't have a remarkable leader. The movement to refuse service in the territories will continue to encounter a majority worried about undermining the existing order, even if that same majority believes there's not much order left, only a huge mess. Military Intelligence has begun to be convinced that the assassination policy is inefficient. The Council for Peace and Security, a large reservoir of retired senior officers, is lobbying for unilateral withdrawal, evacuating settlements and returning to negotiations. Simple, tragic facts are contributing to the deepening sense of unease. More Israelis are being killed while the government just recites its mantra about how it will break the intifada.
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When the speak of "what the Iraqis did to the Kurds" we must remember that the Iraqis slaughtered them. 300,000 of them.

Israelis are calling for peace...

20,000 Israelis rally for peace
Speakers urge nation to end occupation of West Bank, Gaza Strip

and destruction...

Right: Dismantle PA or dismantle government