Israeli Daily Calls for Gaza Pullout 'Now'

By: Greg Mitchell Haaretz, the Tel Aviv, daily today editorialized for an Israeli pullout from Gaza. Or as the headline put it, "Just Get Out."

It concluded, "Israel must withdraw from the Gaza Strip and seek an agreement that will secure a long-term cease-fire and prevent the rearmament of Hamas."

The editorial is posted at: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054162.html

A powerful antiwar column by Gideon Levy:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1054158.html

As always, the Haaretz site offers broad range of news coverage and opinion on the conflict, although some writers note that beyond this outlet the Israeli media is one-sided in support of the invasion and bombing.

An excerpt from the editorial follows.
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The difference in opinion in the cabinet over the timing of the departure from the Gaza Strip and the cease-fire is the sort of luxury Israel cannot permit itself at this time. Lessons of the past suggest that the more the wheels of the war machine sink into the Gaza mud (like in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in previous instances), the more the Israel Defense Forces will get drawn into operations that cause more and more deaths of innocent civilians, that expose soldiers to unneeded risk and that undermine an exposure-exhausted home front. On the other hand, the military achievements in the field will make no difference.

The defense minister may have ordered the IDF to prepare for a significantly broadened operation in the Gaza Strip, but the diplomatic-security cabinet only approved the continuation of the combat operations at their current level with humanitarian assistance that is limited in both time and breadth. The good news is that four ministers -- Haim Ramon, Daniel Friedmann, Rafi Eitan and Meir Sheetrit -- did not support expanding the operation. The bad news is that Prime Minster Ehud Olmert, his deputy Tzipi Livni, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak failed to bridge the differences in their viewpoints....

The two positions are reasonable and backed by good arguments, but the conclusion of both is the same: The fighting needs to stop now and the IDF should exit Gaza immediately. After all, while they are debating, the pressure from within and from without is growing. The head of Military Intelligence said yesterday that the IDF is fighting in Gaza in areas that "are crowded and full of traps, between schools and mosques."

By this he bolstered the assumption, which appears to be self evident, that the more the forces advance, the more complicated the situation will become, fraught with dangers, for both the military and civilians....

Given Merkel and Sarkozy's commitment to guaranteeing Israel's security, and the growing concern of a conflagration in the north - the reservists on the northern border could be needed in the south if more complications arise there - the IDF, the government, a million citizens in the south and 1.5 million Gazans have no time to hesitate or to struggle over prestige.

Israel must withdraw from the Gaza Strip and seek an agreement that will secure a long-term cease-fire and prevent the rearmament of Hamas.