Israel's position, in spite of its offensive, is desperate: tanks are helpless against the endless attacks of Palestinian suicide bombers that blow themselves up together with dozens of Israeli civilians. The Palestinians also intend to fight to the end - to form their own independent state and destroy the Israeli state. The rest of the world is vacillating between appeals to Israel "not to employ excessive force" and appeals to the Palestinians "to stop the terror." The world community's sympathies could go either way depending on the outcome of the confrontation between the Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy City of Bethlehem.