Lessons that Israel has learned....

Only Israel can take care of its own security...

In the aftermath of Cast Lead, Israel has suffered not just from international condemnation but from a slew of broken promises as well. World leaders such as French President Nicholas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel talked of the necessity of stopping Hamas from smuggling arms into Gaza. But these and other international actors have failed to prevent Hamas from comprehensively rearming and today this guerilla proxy of Iran possesses more advanced weapons and rockets than it did before Cast Lead.

The lesson Israel has taken from this appalling negligence is obvious; it can rely on no one to protect its citizens and stand up for its right to self-defence other than itself. It is this accumulated sentiment that those who wish to see a Palestinian state established must contend with, because Israelis cannot be expected to trust external forces with their security.