"At first I got carried away. It was patriotic fervor . . ." [View All]

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August 10, 2006 3:33 PM

Israeli war fervor slips

Joel Greenberg
Chicago Tribune

JERUSALEM - Tami Levy has lost her taste for Israel's war in Lebanon.

The 50-year-old computer programmer said she was initially an enthusiastic supporter of the campaign when it was launched after Hezbollah guerrillas seized two soldiers and killed three others in a raid across the border July 12.

But after a month of fighting that has produced rising army casualties, relentless rocket attacks on Israeli towns and cities, and no clear sign of victory, Levy is no longer a strong backer of the offensive.

''At first I got carried away. It was patriotic fervor, not even the result of any thought,'' Levy said recently over a fast-food lunch at a Jerusalem mall. ''Now everyone's enthusiasm has faded, because it's not ending quickly. It's not a shining victory, they're hitting back, and the restoration of our deterrence capability is not happening.''

As the fighting grinds on, there is a current of unease here about the war, and the first cracks in the consensus of support for a campaign widely seen by Israelis as a justified response to an unprovoked attack by extremists bent on Israel's destruction.


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