Perhaps but the military organizations assembled by Israel since 1947 are, in my view, among the best, if not the best, in the world....These certainly have not turned the "other cheek" to actual or perceived assault.
As ex military myself, I would like to see our civilian air transportation industry emulate them in things such as their use of profiling for the traveling public as it has proven a tremndopus success...head and shoulders above the Norm Mineta mess we have here in the U.S.
You bring up a good point. It still amazes me however, that the Israelies continue to act mostly in a reactive/defensive posture. Why they let Arafat live is beyond me. They should also be actively going after Saddam.
What I would like to see is a proactive stance against declared enemies of Isreal. I was encouraged to see that the Mossad has recently been given the green light to go after enemies on foreign soil. That is a major step in the right direction.