An Israeli officer's response to Bush

I am an Orthodox Jew and a criminal defense attorney in Tel Aviv. I am also a tank gunner in reserve duty, and part of a group of 1,000 soldiers who have refused to serve in the occupied territories. Many of them were imprisoned in military jails in the past few months.

Now that President George W. Bush has enlightened us with his new 'Plan' for the Middle East, we can only wonder how long it will take him to realize that his plan is useless and meaningless.

Although his speech was riddled with rosy descriptions he envisions for the utopian Palestinian State in the far future, Bush managed to avoid any mention of the present situation in the same parcel of land where all these wonderful things are to materialize.

No mention of the fact that all West Bank cities had been invaded by Israeli military forces; that hundreds of thousands of inhabitants are imprisoned in their homes by a strict curfew, and that civilians appearing on city streets are being shot at like dogs by Israeli tanks and Apache helicopters.

His failure to understand that no progress can be made while a whole nation is being brutally occupied is the basic flaw in his policy, and serves as the best explanation why his Middle East plans have consistently become colossal failures.

Bush's delusional thinking that he can change the Palestinian leadership by delivering a speech is mind-boggling. The American president thinks he can just do away with any leader in the world he dislikes.