Politicians and the general define the victory differently. Barred from wining the war by the standard military method of crushing the resistance with all available means, General Petraeus resorted to the second-best option: a string of tactical victories. His excellent troops flushed Iraqi insurgents from one stronghold after another. Petraeus even managed to abandon democracy in favor of tribal alliances in Anbar province. Though the alliances with Sunni minority, copying Saddam’s power balancing, are temporary at least due to habitual treachery of tribal sheiks, Petraeus buys time to destroy Al Qaeda in the region. On tactical level, he is quite good. Israel learned in her conflicts with Palestine and Lebanon that tactics don’t cover for the lack of strategy. It is possible to win every battle and lose the war for the lack of realistic political objectives. Generals cannot save the day for American politicians.

Palestinian Kassam rocket wounded 69 Israeli soldiers in the training camp of Zikim. While Sderot cannot be evacuated, there is no need to maintain the IDF training base in the dangerous zone near Gaza. A Kassam rocket hit the same IDF base before. Israeli government similarly sent IDF soldiers as senseless live shields to accompany Sderot children in the first days of school year.
IDF is not expected to launch any major retaliation. Indeed, why retaliate for a single rocket after thousands rockets were fired and tolerated?
Hamas praised the attack carried out by Popular Resistance Committees and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Unable to confront those minuscule groups, Israel laid the blame on Hamas which ostensibly failed to provide Israeli security. Fatah supports PRC and PIJ to make Israel confront Hamas.
Israeli President Shimon Peres lost the leftovers of his tiny mind and publicly wondered today, why do the Palestinians shell Israel after her withdrawal from Gaza. They shell Israel specifically because she withdrew. It’s a viable tactics to pursue the fleeing coward, demanding still more concessions.
The current situation of low-intensity violence across the border with Gaza is politically perfect for Israel, preventing further major concessions.

IDF ceased pursuit of hundreds of Palestinian terrorist fugitives in return for their promise to stop attacking Israel. Abbas paid them with Israeli money to surrender weapons. Even though the bonus far exceeded the market price of automatic rifles, most did not surrender their weapons. According to IDF, “many” of the pardoned fugitives ceased terrorist activity. In Israeli parlance, that means that most pardoned terrorists remain active.
Israel supplied Fatah gang with thousands of rifles, but Fatah doesn’t confront Hamas even in the West Bank.

over failing to protect an illegal Bedouin settlement near the Makhteshim chemical plant. The plant mildly exploded last month, which could theoretically endanger Bedouin who had no right to live there in the first place.

Ashdod, Haifa ports operate much below their capacity. Ships are routinely delayed for several days. Freight companies decrease the cargo turnover through Israel. In the contrast, Dubai Port Authority delivers containers to customers in Jebel Ali Free Zone forty minutes after the ships dock in Dubai port.

Israeli Bureau of Statistics published a curious figure: average food consumption in Israel is 3,500kkal, almost twice the norm. Given the large number of children, the ratio is still higher. Obviously, Israelis don’t each that much. So where the food goes? How much food does Israel actually ship to Palestinians free?
Among other figures: 29% of Jewish marriages ended up in divorce. 39% of Jewish families lack children.

Israeli inmates beat the arrested Neo-Nazis held in Ofek prison.