JERUSALEM EDITOR SAUL TARSUS

SENIOR ISRAELI POLICY ADVISORS ARE TELLING PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU that invading the Gaza Strip to rescue the hostages Hamas has taken will not be another Entebbe, but could be another Custer disaster.

“They did this because they want him to come into Gaza,” said an IDF strategist who did not wish to be named. “Those hostages, if they are even still alive, will be split up all over the place – hell, some of them may well be in Egypt by now, or God forbid, Lebanon or Iran. We don’t know. What we do know is that there are thousands of Palestinians in there, waiting for a ground invasion. Bibi is General Custer and Gaza is the Sioux and Cheyenne camped along the Greasy Grass River. Sure, stand off, bombard them, then deal for prisoners but don’t go blindly charging in there. Bush did it in Afghanistan and Iraq and look how that turned out. We’re not in Entebbe now.”

At Entebbe in Uganda the Prime Minister’s brother was killed leading a successful hostage rescue that stunned the world.

“They day after we come out – unless we want to stay there forever, losing soldiers ever day – Hamas will still be in command of Gaza. We can flatten it. We can kill thousands. But we cannot destroy the place. It, however, can destroy us.”