A CHANGE OF DIRECTION?

It's looking like the Israeli Defense Cabinet is finally realizing that it cannot rely on the U.S. for support. This is another positive sign that Israel is not prepared to lay down and accept an indipendant Palestinian state.
FROM DEBKA.COM:
DEBKAfile Reports: Most members of Israeli defense cabinet favor independent action against nuclearized Iran - despite US intelligence reassessment
December 9, 2007, 6:01 PM (GMT+02:00)

The special defense and foreign affairs cabinet meeting of Dec. 12 did not linger on the dispute between Israel and the US over its last National Intelligence Estimate, which absolves Iran from running a nuclear weapons program from 2003. After briefings from intelligence chiefs, the ministers focused on what to do next. Most objected to letting Israel’s hands be tied by the Bush administration’s apparent waiver of its military option against Iran.
They began exploring how to restructure and reorient the missions of Israel’s military from now on and, secondly, how to adapt the IDF’s strategy to the challenges on its multiple fronts - Syria, Lebanon, Hizballah and the Gaza Strip’s Palestinian terror groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad - in the light of the emerging understanding among the US, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

And yesterday, reality is starting to sink in that Gaza is a growing threat. But at the same time, the IDF is being restrained from eliminating the growing stockpile of Palestinian rockets. At some point, Israel must take whatever steps are necessary to protect itself and stop playing Mr. Nice Guy.

DEBKAfile Exclusive: Olmert administration tells additional southern Israeli towns to get set for Gaza bombardment. Military operation again deferred
December 8, 2007, 10:21 PM (GMT+02:00)

Hamas has extended the range of its missiles from Gaza to as far afield as the towns of Ashkelon, Netivot and Ofakim and blocs of smaller locations such as Magen, Miftahim, Kerem Shalom, Habsor, Gevulot, Tzeelim and Urim. This brings another 175,000 inhabitants who have so far escaped Palestinian missiles within Palestinian sights.
On Dec. 6, deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai made the rounds of this region and warned local authorities to prepare their towns and villages for bombardment. He had no answers on any military response or how their citizens were to be protected from this new peril. DEBKAfile’s sources reveal that prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Ehud Barak and chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi have again decided to defer a major military operation for wiping out the Hamas war machine in Gaza. Its long postponement has left the Islamist terrorists free to greatly enhance their capabilities.
The range of their new missile acquisitions has been extend up to 25 km. Even fired from Gaza City, they can still reach a broad swathe of southern Israeli civilian locations, and not just those close to the border. Liquidating this new capability would necessitate Israel’s conquest of Gaza’s largest town.
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