Hi Israeli blogger, I agree with many of the points you are making ... Yes, we Israelis definitely are very defensive when it comes to our mistakes. And in general in regards to the conflict - I think this also has to do with some concepts we have been brought up with -- which have varying levels of truth to them -- from BG's 'Um Shmum' to the IDF being the 'most ethical' army in the world and 'Everyone is against us' . Indeed if you visit Europe and watch the evening news you would most likely be disturbed by the way Israel is portrayed.. add this to the emerging debate with in the intelegencia in Europe on whether Israel has a 'right to exist' and you have that crippling defensiveness. I think that part of the reason Israelis can't own up to their mistakes -- and some of them are awful - like the killing of the young girl you mentioned - is the distorted international debate on the conflict. (In other words the general negative sentiment and sense of delegitimization towards Israel make Israelis (and Diaspora Jews for that matter) feel like they should be defensive rather than 'play into the hands' of those elements. As for the Arab public opinion -- what worries me most is the antisemitic elements used in the Arab discourse in regards to Israel. While studying overseas, I took part in a certain university committee with a fellow PhD student from Saudi Arabia. I was eager to talk him to hear his views etc. All was ok for a few minutes until he told me that "You Jews are greedy you want to take our lands and money " -- to be honest I was quite shocked, if this is a Phd student studying at a respectable uni in the west - what would the man on the street say ? Oh, and yes the Israeli media, at times, runs "Ronny Daniel" style scare campaigns - but I still do not believe it is the same as running antisemitic tv shows during in Ramadan on government tv stations (even in Egypt!) and using the 'protocols' as basis for a serious debate on the Zionist intentions ... My apologies for the long post, G