I’m sure she could have handled this war far better. My first thought was chief of staff, but hey, why aim low?

Two e-mails from two completely different worlds, both received at the same time, saying similar things.

Reuven Daitch, Jerusalem, Israel:

It’s been a year since the State of Israel removed by force thousands of its citizens from settlements in Gaza and northern Samaria. On the Friday night of that wrenching week, I was walking with a group of people from the Kotel to the home of our Shabbat host in Maalot Dafna. Two young Arabs, unfazed by the presence of a large group of Jews, approached one of us and asked “Are you from Canada?” The man answered “No, I’m from Israel.” The questioner persisted, “Why don’t you move to Canada?” The man replied “Because I live in Israel.” And the young Arab then declared to us, “We’re going to win!” A woman in the group asked the Arab, “Why must only one side win? Why can’t we both win?” And, the youth, once more, defiantly proclaimed “We’re going to win!”

This afternoon, as I approached the intersection of Shmuel Hagid and Ben Yehuda in downtown Jerusalem, a
teenager was muttering something in an Arabic accent that I couldn’t understand. I strained my ears and then heard the words “Welcome Hassan.: My ears did a double-take. Is he saying what I think he’s saying? And then he repeated his words, more explicitly: “Welcome Hassan Nasrallah.”

If anyone doubts there is a link between last year’s disengagement and this year’s war in Lebanon; if anyone doubts that Israel was the loser, both last year and this year, they should listen to the voice of young Arabs in Jerusalem.

John Williams, Liverpool, UK:

One positive outcome of this debacle could be that Israelis now realise that unilateral withdrawal just leads to Israel being a rocket range for the fanatics.

What do I think? A lot. I’m still working it out in my mind. I don’t think it’s nearly as simple as ‘it’s all because of the disengagement’. The settlement movement in the disputed territories is largely religiously motivated, which means that they have a different logic than I have. I am still relieved that we are out of Gaza, even if the timing was badly off.

My thoughts are going in other directions. I’m thinking about leadership, elites, values, among other things.

I have insider knowledge of how big organizations like the army work. I had always hoped that the army functioned better than the organization I work for. I wished to believe that they had better quality leadership. It seems not.