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By Jonathan Cook - Nazareth
Moshe Dayan, Israel's most celebrated general, famously outlined the strategy he believed would keep Israel's enemies at bay: "Israel must be a like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Until now, most observers had assumed Dayan was referring to Israeli military or possibly nuclear strategy, an expression in his typically blunt fashion of the country's familiar doctrine of deterrence.
But the Israeli commando attack on Monday on the Gaza-bound flotilla, in which nine activists have so far been confirmed killed and dozens were wounded as they tried to break Israel's blockade of the enclave, proves beyond doubt that this is now a diplomatic strategy too. Israel is feeling cornered on every front it considers important - and like Dayan's "mad dog", it is likely to strike out in unpredictable ways.
Domestically, Israeli human rights activists have regrouped after the Zionist left's dissolution in the wake of the outbreak of the second intfada. Now they are presenting clear-eyed - and extremely ugly - assessments of the occupation that are grabbing headlines around the world.
That move has been supported by the leadership of Israel's large Palestinian minority, which has additionally started questioning the legitimacy of a Jewish state in ways that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.
Regionally, Hizbullah has progressively eroded Israel's deterrence doctrine. It forced the Israeli army to exit south Lebanon in 2000 after a two-decade occupation; it stood firm in the face of both aerial bombardment and a ground invasion during the 2006 war; and now it is reported to...