age the image, and you damage the deterrent. This is the second round of Ya'alon's peculiar charm offensive. In January, the mass-circulation daily Yediot Aharonot published leaks from conversations in which the defense minister attacked Kerry's efforts to negotiate a two-state agreement in general, and in par

war in this region has underscored its primary function and the integral connection between colonial interests and its own aggressive projects. In Yediot Aharonot on 3 December 1974, Ariel Sharon (the former Israeli premier and the chief executor of the Sabra and Shatila massacre) wrote: "The Americans regard