by Gaby Landau

Only few people enjoyed today the clear and refreshing waters of the swimming pool in the tranquil village looking over the Haifa bay and the Jezre'el Valley. For them, it seemed a bit surreal to swim in the blue cool water as planes and choppers are making their way to Lebanon above their heads.

In a way, this scene reflects the reality in which the Israeli people were reluctantly thrown into in the middle of the hot month of July. Is it a real war or just another local operation? Are we going to be involved in a long attrition process in Lebanon or maybe there is a hope for new terms in the Northern border-line?

The hot summer days of July are meant to be spent on the golden Mediterranean beaches, in the trendy coffee shops and the outdoor park concerts. For the families of the North July 2006 will be remembered as the summer of the missiles, a threat which Israel has no experience with so far. Hooked to their T.V. in the shelters or secured room most of them try to find immediate answers to the daily life routine which was abruptly cut off.. Israelis adjust very quickly to changing situations, few more days without any dramatic developments, they will determine a new 'routine'.

Many Israelis feel that this is much more than a local war against the Hezbollah. Somehow, it is the crucial point where the world has to decide what is wrong and what is write. Are we going to give in to terror? Is there a place for a modern democratic society in the Middle-East? Is this the war between forces of good and forces of evil?

From my picturesque village overlooking the plains of Armageddon, things tend to become biblical.