While the majority of Israelis support their country’s assault, Arab-Israelis have become the strongest critics of the offense. Hassan Jabareen of Adalah, a group that campaigns for the legal rights of Arab-Israelis said, “I live in Haifa, but Haifa is a paradise compared to what is happening in Lebanon. This government has one policy - no negotiations - and if you have this policy then there is no room for diplomacy.”

Arab-Israelis, which make up 20 percent of Israel, have long dealt with state-sanctioned discrimination. Some have even said that while under rocket attack they have not been allotted the same access to bomb shelters that Jewish Israelis have. Mainstream Jewish-Israeli political parties, such as Ysrael Beytenu, make it no secret that their goal is to achieve a mass expulsion of Arabs from Israel. On Wednesday, the Israeli interior minister, Roni Bar-on, was the personification of bigotry when he told Jamal Zahalkha, an Arab-Israeli parliamentarian, “I’d be happy if you would join some of your friends in Lebanon to enjoy what they are enjoying now.”

Meanwhile, small numbers of Jewish-Israelis are also taking up the cause. On Sunday, around 500 anti-war protestors demonstrated in Tel Aviv. Uri Avery, a former Israeli commando turned peace activist, campaigns for an end to the occupation of Palestine. Avery said, “We want to explain to Israelis what is wrong about the operation in Lebanon. This whole crisis is rooted in the Palestinian problem. Hezbollah would not have made these attacks if Israel was not bombing Gaza.” He believes that the longer the war goes on, the less his countrymen will support it. My question is, how long does Lebanon have?

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