Incensed by the lynching of two Israeli soldiers, the Israeli press adopted a hard line Friday, backing the military retaliation for the killings and calling on the government for greater firmness.
"Live from Hell" said a headline in Maariv, describing the Palestinians who killed the soldiers in Ramallah as "creatures dressed as humans, two-legged wild animals, humanity in all its ugliness."
"The TV pictures (of the lynching) shocked all civilized people and turned the stomachs of all Israelis," the newspaper said.
However, it added that, while "it is not unprecedented for a crowd to become an enraged mob ... never before has this happened in front of the camera lens .... After seeing it on the small screen, we understand better than ever that is is no longer possible to live this way.
Maariv columnist Ron Miberg said "we will not forget and we will not forgive what the Palestinians did yesterday," adding that Israel "was established so that Jewish corpses would no longer roll in the streets."
Yediot Aharonot recalled the words of the late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin on the White House lawn some seven years ago.
"Enough blood and tears," Rabin had said. "The time for peace has arrived."
Nahum Barnes, in an article entitled "An Inescapable War," said "Rabin was apparently wrong. We were all wrong."
He said there "remains a great thirst for blood and tears between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean, and there are those who are willing to continue to supply the goods."
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak "had no choice but to act. Not only 3 million Palestinians and 6 million Israelis are monitoring Israel's power of deterrence, but also Iraq and its Scud missiles (which it would be happy to launch), Iran, Syria, Egypt and Jordan. Paralysis invites war." -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
