What, Me worry ?

And don't forget Jerusalem !...

ISRAEL—Odd Man Out and Targeted for War

By Ilana Freedman

Thursday, March 31:

As the Rolling Revolutions of the Middle East continue to spread and escalate, the world has still not come to terms with the complex issues that drive the rebellions, the forces behind them, and the fact that there is still no international consensus about where this is leading. The most compelling characteristic of these events is that they are driven by the laws of unintended consequences. The actions taken today will most certainly lead to events that those who decided to take them never anticipated.

In the name of “democracy revolutions”, the Middle East is rapidly succumbing to chaos, and battles between long reigning rulers on one side and the people on the other. The result may be anything but democratic.

The resulting rise and legitimization of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment not only in the Middle East but throughout Europe and Asia is alarming. A few examples:

* During Egypt’s “peaceful” demonstrations, an American journalist was sexually assaulted by a mob of Egyptian men in a brutal twenty-minute attack in the iconic Tahrir Square, while the crowd shouted, “Jew! Jew!” (the reporter is not Jewish).

* In Tunisia, after the government of President Bin Ali had already been brought down, the demonstrations continued, looking for another target. At least one synagogue was attacked and burned, and the crowds in Tunis shouted, “Death to the Jews! Death to Israel”.

* Now that Egypt has become ‘democratic’, it has lifted the blockade of Gaza imposed by Hosni Mubarak, and weapons are once again flowing into Gaza through Egypt to Hamas.

* Hamas has once again begun a barrage of rocket attacks on southern Israeli. On the first day of their new offensive, they fired 50 mortars and rockets into populated areas. This marked the beginning of a new surge in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.

* In the town of Itamar in the West Bank, a young couple and three of their six children were brutally murdered, and the head of their newborn baby girl was cut off in a gruesome Sabbath massacre.

* In Jerusalem, a bomb placed near a bus stop killed a British tourist and injured 50 more.

Israel is once again facing a time of increasing insecurity internally and animosity from its Arab and Muslim neighbors.

If Israel has a major flaw in its strategic security plans, it lies in its dependence on American friendship and support, neither of which she is likely to get in the event of an all-out war. And all-out war is what seems to be inevitable. In fact, in my view, it has already started, with the strengthening of Islamist control of the Muslim countries surrounding Israel and the return of terrorist attacks at home.

The vise around Israel is tightening, from Lebanon and Syria in the north, Gaza in the South, and now Iran from the Mediterranean Sea in the west. It is not clear what will trigger the next war, but I believe it is likely that we will see another regional war before the end of the summer, with Israel at its epicenter.