With unfortunate timing, the rest of my family leaves for Israel on Sunday. As I have more limited vacation, I catch up with them later in Europe—and I'm afraid I'm the only member who likes to read, and to meet, Internet strangers. Having said that, I myself am not so pessimistic as at other times (e.g., the original Lebanon invasion). Even the fact that Sheikh Nasrallah "wanted" Israeli military action does not mean that he will be pleased with the results. Perhaps this time Nasrallah is the one who has miscalculated. My impression is that post-Gaza Israel is on firmer ground than at any time since the immediate post-Oslo period. Except for the usual Trotskyites, no one in the West is going to support cross-border kidnappings, and as a result, I think that Olmert will be able to negotiate an eventual disengagement in which the PA and the Lebanese Army will finally take responsibility for their sides of the border. The necessary, and difficult, step is to arrange this in such a way that it does not look like the Arabs are surrendering. With the Western community on one side, I think that the necessary international fig-leaves may grow.