As reported.................will Israel heed?

The Dubai police has released identities of 15 new suspects linked with the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. TIME had this to say about the murder and Israel's very likely involvement; most observers in the region - including in Israel - have come to the same conclusion that Mossad was behind the murder:

".....unlike such assassinations in the past, this one could have serious diplomatic consequences for Israel. It would appear that whoever was responsible underestimated Dubai's security capability. The city-state used sophisticated computer programs to quickly sift through its massive pool of security-camera footage and pinpoint the movements and travel documents of the alleged killers."

"Israel's role in the Western press is less and less that of embattled David and more and more the reckless Goliath: from the ongoing siege of Gaza to the intentionally disproportionate responses during both the war in Lebanon against Hizballah in 2006 and the war in Gaza against Hamas in 2009."

The Financial Times had this to say:

At first glance, the violent death of a Hamas operative in Dubai last month would seem to have little in common with the height of the sofas in Israel's foreign ministry. Or the recent threats uttered by Israel's foreign minister in the direction of Syria's president. Or the blunt refusal by a high-ranking Israeli official to meet a group of US lawmakers last week.

There is, however, a theme that connects them: all speak of Israel's capacity to rile its neighbours, antagonise its allies and deepen the country's isolation. At a time when Israel is already on the diplomatic back-foot around the world, and reeling from the international backlash against last year's war in the Gaza Strip, it is a habit that is starting to alarm many, not least inside Israel itself.

From the  Jerusalem Post:

"..I’M afraid that today, the idea of going into the army is not about becoming a mensch, or about learning to stand up for yourself without pushing others around, but mainly about pushing others around.

In this ultra-nationalistic atmosphere, way too many teenagers see the army as an opportunity to take revenge on the country’s enemies, to show the Arabs and the whole hostile, hypocritical world how strong we are, how fearless, how much greater than any other nation we are."

"There’s no more attempt to see if we can simply stand up straight and survive – no, it’s either swagger or cringe, and we prefer swagger."

And from the Los Angeles Times:

The United States is counting on their allies in the so-called moderate Arab states to help in forming a united front with Israel and Europe to face off against Iran as it tries to master nuclear technology in what the West and some experts believe is a drive at developing the atomic bomb.

But following last month's assassination of a leading Hamas figure in the United Arab Emirates state of Dubai by alleged agents for Israeli spy agency Mossad, such countries appear in no mood these days to make nice with Israel, judging by the content of the articles in moderate and even pro-government Arab newspapers these days.

But will Israel listen? Will it listen to reason? Does it really care? For years now, Israel and Mossad have acted with arrogance and impunity. Israel has repeatedly acted with such recklessness and brazenness, that it is hard to believe there is an International Community watching and knowing all this - and yet Israel gets away with such actions. How can we forget the brutal war that Israel waged against Lebanon? How can we forget the terror it unleashed in Gaza just a few months ago? How long will Israel be allowed to strangle Gaza. Can voices of reason rise in Israel? Can and will Israel ever see sense and reason and realize that, if it is to live in peace; if its people are to live in peace and security in the region, then it has to stop acting with such recklessness and arrogance? Recklessness and arrogance that can only lead the region in to what none of us want to imagine: an all out war. An all out war that all will lose.