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Israel, Now Is the Time to Talk

Natasha Mozgovaya writes from Washington that Israel’s attack on Gaza should be a catalyst for dialogue both between Israel and Palestine, and among Israelis themselves about Israel’s strategic interests and objectives.
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish youths look at an Iron Dome anti-missile battery near Tel Aviv November 19, 2012. Israel bombed dozens of targets in Gaza on Monday and said that while it was prepared to step up its offensive by sending in troops, it preferred a diplomatic solution that would end Palestinian rocket fire from the enclave. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY)

After the siren went wailing, my mother and her neighbors, living in southern Tel Aviv, couldn't make it in time to the shelter in the basement of their building — five days into the IDF Gaza offensive, they hadn't yet settled into the routine of the Tel Aviv area being fired upon and having to find shelter within 40 seconds. The head of the residents' committee hadn't changed his habit of locking the door to the shelter, so the neighbors heard the boom of the rocket while gathered at the staircase.

Like many Israelis, after the attack my mother returned to the computer and wrote in her blog: "What has to happen here? [...] What more do they need to understand the horror of this situation — for this country to disappear? [...] It will get worse, if this jihad isn't stopped."

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