"I don't know of one democratic country in the world, one, that would accept and do nothing when 1,000 missiles are shot at innocent civilians at the heart of the country. Some of those who preach to us would have done a lot more in a more brutal, vicious and cruel way." These were the words of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert early last week. I think Olmert is wrong in part. All who preach to Israel would have responded more viciously, brutally and cruelly.

I don't see how Israel could be accused of carrying out a "disproportionate act of war," as a French politician said last Thursday. I don't see how Israel is overreacting, given the aforementioned — and given the June kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the kidnap and execution of a settler on the West Bank, the kidnapping of two more Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah.

Throw in, too, the rockets that have continued to come out of Gaza since Israel withdrew last summer. By withdrawing from Gaza, Israel was reversing a mistake.

I would like to see any Palestinian leader admit and reverse any mistake, even a tiny one, or even understand the concept. Israel left behind greenhouses, which had been worth $100 million a year in exports. Rather than build on that, Palestinians looted and destroyed them and continued firing rockets, without provocation, onto nearby Israeli villages. Israel has also withdrawn completely from Lebanon in the past six years. This has not stopped Hezbollah from shelling Israel sporadically over the years and from attacking Israel again last week.

Neither of these aggressions against Israel, therefore, can rightly be called territorial disputes. Unless we are discussing the fact that Hezbollah and Hamas consider Israel, itself, territory that should be free of Jews.

The Lebanese government has not taken care of Hezbollah. So it falls to Israel, which will take criticism for doing someone else's job. Hamas's military arm must be dismantled as well for the sake of Israel and the Palestinians, and any hope of a future for them.

The international community should worry less about Israel showing restraint when it is persistently under attack, and more about Hezbollah, Hamas, Syria and Iran.

Hezbollah, with its links to those countries, must be dismantled as a military force. Not only for the sake of Israel, but for the sake of the Lebanese people, the entire region, and the rest of us.

At the same time Iran was supposed to respond to an incentive package to give up its nuclear program, Hezbollah attacked Israel. Coincidence? I think not. Hezbollah is part of the larger game.

Mumbai, New York, Bali, London, Haifa. These are also all part of the same larger game, the global war on terror. If we accuse Israel of not being sufficiently "restrained" for responding as it has, what exactly will we do when our turn comes?