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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/opinion/06brooks.html
The New Middle East Game
[New York Times] David Brooks - When Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran became leading players in the Middle East struggle, the land-for-peace game was suspended. The new game is not oriented toward a final agreement. The extremist groups believe in the eventual extermination of Israel. They're not interested in a handshake on the White House lawn. The extremists' goal is to kill as many Jews as possible and wait for God (or Iran) to kill the rest. Israel's goal is to restrain the brazenness of the extremists until their movement somehow burns itself out or is destroyed from within Arab society. Israel's realistic immediate goal is not to achieve some permanent resolution, but to merely suppress terrorism week by week and month by month.