To Bill
Of course Israel has clout and plenty of it.

It has one of the most sophisticated armies in the world and is a highly militarised state.

It receives huge amount of military and economic aid every year from the USA and those Apache gunships and F16 warplanes were all manufactured by the US arms industry.

Without this massive support Israel could not keep attacking its neighbours.

Why does America support Israel like it does?

Israel serves an Imperial function for the USA.It is its attack dog in one of the most important economic regions in the world.

Of course as well as serving America's interests the Israeli state has plenty of interests of its own in terms of its own expansionist ,racist and religious ideas.After all it was founded as a zionist entity and there are many Israelis at the heart of the state who are itching to get rid of the Palestinians...permanently.

But the situation is not some static one. The Palestinians have not scattered to the four corners of the globe.The Palestinian birthrate is higher than the Israeli birthrate. Israel is no longer seen as the plucky little fighter by people across the world.It is rightly seen as a brutal and savage oppressor of all its opponents whether they are Lebanese civilians fleeing their homes in car convoys or young kids being blown up in a United Nations School in Gaza.

Israel now gets its support mainly from those blood soaked old war hawks in the Pentagon and in Downing Street and in similar places .

Israel was a notable supporter of apartheid era South Africa and could always be relied on to supply some uzis to any thuggish dictator in Latin America. It has a history of thuggish and brutal behaviour that goes back to its founding when its own terrorist gangs hung British soldiers with wire until they were dead.

But things are changing.It is finding it harder and harder to win these invasions and wars.Hezbollah gave it a bloody nose in 2006 and gained massive respect in the Middle East by doing so. The respect was earned by Hezbollah not because of its religious beliefs but because it was able to take on the invaders and beat them back.

I dont know what will happen in Gaza over the coming days and weeks but it wont be decent and it will be barbaric and Israel is going to finish this latest round an international pariah...not because of its religious beliefs but because it has gleefully made war on women and children and murdered them by the hundred ...and things are changing !
ifor