israeli

It\’s not every day that an Israeli army chief of staff calls in top journalists to express deep misgivings about government policy.

So when Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya\’alon initiated a late October briefing to warn that the government\’s handling of Palestinian terrorism could provoke more intense Palestinian violence, the country sat up and took notice.

Ya\’alon\’s critique reflected a deep divide between two schools of thought: the hard-liners, like Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who believe relentless military pressure can force the Palestinians to abandon terrorism for peace negotiations, and relative moderates, like Ya\’alon and many of the Israel Defense Force\’s top generals, who maintain that Palestinian violence will only abate when serious political incentives are put on the table.