I'm delighted to see British journalist Melanie Phillips noticed and praised by a couple of influential American blogs. Her "Diary" has been in my blogroll from my first day in the 'sphere (That's right, Power Line. Who's the news-breaker now?), and I can recommend it wholeheartedly. Phillips writes fiercely, persuasively and with (to this tyro) unsettling frequency and length.

I tentatively disagree with her, however, on a large issue: Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza and the West Bank. Phillips makes a powerful argument in support, for example here, in a post she titles "The case for unilateral disengagement." Phillips cites approvingly another pro-withdrawal writer, Bret Stephens:

[W]hat counts isn't withdrawal. It is the manner of withdrawal. A withdrawal from Gaza would be disastrous if Israel were to give the Palestinians the chance to strut. Assuming lessons have been learned, Sharon won't. . . . Withdrawal would mean Palestinians could no longer wage the terrorist war against Israeli civilians at which they're so expert.

Phillips adds,

In other words, withdrawal makes military sense. And surely once this is understood in Gaza, it must be applied to the West Bank too.

But I find myself leaning toward the contrary view, stated by Caroline Glick:

Like Hizbullah in Lebanon, the terrorists in Gaza will be viewed by the entire global jihad network as having defeated Israel. The price Israel paid for its precipitous withdrawal from Lebanon was the Palestinian terror war. What should Israel expect after its withdrawal from Gaza enables Hamas, Fatah and Hizbullah terror cells to operate openly five kilometers from the power station in Ashkelon?

Though I'm very willing to change my mind, at the moment I find Glick's analysis more convincing. The example of Lebanon, which Phillips also addresses (as does Stephens), leads me to believe that a pullout would be unwise.

I'll keep reading Phillips, and perhaps I'll come around to her view. Regardless, to have two such honorable, knowledgeable and eloquent commentators to learn from is a pleasure. It probably goes without stating that my hope above all is that the course Israel decides to pursue turns out to be the right one.