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Well, let me--as a humble Christian fundamentalist, and an admitted minority--suggest that Israel might have an even bigger problem on its hands than hostile Arabs: look at Leviticus 18:24-28 and consider that Israel, whose claim to its territory appears to rest upon God having initially given it to them, is now a thoroughly secularized modern state, probably with most of the beliefs and worldly behavioral patterns of such a state. As such, it is only the latest of one of countless "kingdoms" that have occupied the land in question down thru the millennia. If you accept that the God of the Old Testament still exists (and I know few people do), and if you accept that what he says doesn't change with the times, could it be that Israel might actually be "defiling" the land as they defiled it back in King Solomon's day? And wouldn't it follow, then, that the land everyone seems to be fighting about is simply getting ready to spew out yet another defiler (V. 27), as it did to this very same nation shortly after King Solomon's reign? Gee, it all seems so clear from a fundamentalist point of view (and the solution seems clear, too), but, of course, it wouldn't even occur to either Hitchens or any thoroughly secularized diplomat. I would like to get the input of a truly Conservative Jewish rabbi on these questions. Any of them on this forum?