[Los Angeles Times] Ken Ellingwood and Tami Zer - The kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers inside Israel near Gaza and Lebanon represents for many Israelis a test of their nation's resolve in the face of a threat by Islamist militants. "These are the first three cases where Israelis are kidnapped inside Israel and taken to outside Israel. This is a new step. This is why Israel can't tolerate it," said Mordechai Kedar, a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. Uri Dromi, of the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem, said few Israelis favor a return to Lebanon, but there probably would be wide public support for tough military reprisals, including airstrikes against Lebanon. "It's like a bad neighborhood. You're in a bad neighborhood, but you're not moving."
2006-07-14 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive