Maybe the greatest tragedy in all this is that Israel seems to feel compelled to act in such a way as to minimise the chances of using the time it has in order to bring about a settlement which will ensure its longterm survival.

At present Israel is strong enough to do more or less as it likes. It is very much better equipped than its opponents and it can rely on whatever support it needs from the USA. Its opponents are disorganised and relatively weak - so far as the Palestinians themselves are concerned, very weak indeed.   But these are circumstances which in the course of time almost certainly will change radically.

I think it's a mistake to concentrate exclusively on issues of justice and argue back and forth about historical rights and wrongs. There is right and wrong on both sides, and there is really not all that much point in weighing out which side has more of either right or wrong.

The important thing is for a way to be found in which the cycle of violence can be halted and reversed. And the people for whom that is most important is the present majority community in Israel - because if it continues like this into the future it is hard to see how it can avoid disaster, when in the course of time the balance of forces has changed.