TPM blogger fears ‘Israel is losing its soul’

More than in decades past, the Israel I recently visited is a mixture of despair and arrogance. There is a great deal of pride over the Gaza campaign. When I pointed out that was nothing to be proud of since it was like the Pittsburgh Steelers playing against a High School team. Most Israelis felt that while true, "those people" deserved it. The despair comes from a terrible realization that there is no real "just" solution to this conflict. It's a zero sum problem, us or them, and there is a groundswell of support for a "move 'em on out" permanent solution for the Palestinians. With respect to Gaza the solution I heard most frequently was to lock the gates and let them wither away from starvation or bust the gates at Rafah and move to Egypt if they want to eat.

Meanwhile settlement activity continues to grow. The construction in the E-1 corridor is amazing and soon Ma'ale Adumim will extend all the way to Jerusalem cutting off most Palestinian access. Just look at the new settlement of Adam East where Migon settlers will go and the proposed 1400 houses for this new settlement. The construction is going on everywhere. It is getting ridiculous to even contemplate closing some settlements in return for a peace agreement. We went to campaign events for all the major parties and Likud flatly stated no Palestinian state and no closing of ANY settlements. Labor assured people that they would not abandon any settlements and even Kadima was quite circumspect on the subject.

I will be the first to admit that this analysis is anecdotal and limited.
But it does reinforce my primal fear that Israel is losing its soul. There is an indifference to death that is not only chilling but an anathema to the faith I learned as a child.