The fighting in Bint Jbeil has claimed the lives of eight Israeli infantryment, z"l, and several dozen have been wounded. Sadly, the price the IDF is paying is necessary in order to kill as many Hizbollah as possible. While exact numbers are not available, the IDF estimates they've killed around 100 Hizbollah guerillas. This means there's a 1:4 ratio of every Israeli soldier killed to every enemy killed. Relative to the total dominance the IDF has in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, it's clear that Hizbollah is an opponent that's going to extract a heavy price. The Arabs in Jerusalem, citizens of Israel by the way, are celebrating. I can hear them shooting in the air as I write this. If someone handed me a .50 caliber machine gun and half a ton of ammunition, would I open up the village across the little valley? That size caliber easily goes through walls.

The reason why the IDF is losing as many people as it's losing, and this has to be highlighted, is because the Israeli government doesn't allow the IDF to flatten houses in villages. The IDF has to leave most of the structures in place, and can only call in artillery and air strikes if they are 100% that a house has terrorists within. Since intelligence is never perfect, most of the time infantryment enter homes without knowing who is inside and if they armed. So, at the cost of IDF soldiers' lives, we are limiting civilian casualties. WHY?!? This pathetic obsession with preserving "innocent" life is draining our resources and it's completely pointless.

What may not be well-reported abroad is that the miliumnikim, reservists, are being called up in ever increasing numbers. The ground combat in Lebanon is expanding and the IDF needs more and more infantry. It's simply impossible to see everything from the air, as southern Lebanon is very mountainous, full of trees and thick growth, and has an infinite number of crevices and caves.

Am Israel, the Nation of Israel, is responding well. There are flags everywhere, people are completely united, and all around my hometown of Jerusalem I see two great posters, both with flags in the background: "Hezek v'Emetz!" and "Anachnu Ninatzeach!" - meaning "Strength and Courage!" and "We will be victorious!"

To someone not in Israel right now that may sound like cheesy lines from old movies. But if you were here, you'd feel good walking down the street and being reminded that we, as a nation, have huge cajones and that we need not fear. The million and half residents of the north are braving the Hizbollah rocket onslaught with exemplary steadfastness. Lets not forget that in American terms, that's the equivalent of 75 million citizens living under rocket threat and living life in and out of bomb shelters. No small thing.

But Israeli Jews are completely unique group of people, and the way they are handling themselves is impressive. The connection and the identification with the IDF is very strong, since everyone has served or is going to serve, and everyone has friends and family currently serving. That makes war a national effort, and not the far-off adventure by a small warrior caste, which is the American way of waging war. Casualties in Israel are a very personal thing, while in the US, the three thousand dead in Iraq and G-d knows how many wounded are a total non-issue for the 99% of the population that aren't "military families." This distinction between the great civilian masses and the small warrior class makes the US an extremely bizarre, disconnected society. Israel is continually 'megabeshet' meaning - it's 'crystallizing.' This is the concept in Hebrew of coming together and strengthening bonds. In the US, this idea is totally alien as a national experience. The "coming together" after 9/11 is totally incomparable to what I am talking about.