Israel seeks peace and is still waiting for a Palestinian leader in the mold of Anwar Sadat and King Hussein to step forward and end the violence and resume negotiations. Until that happens, Israel must take prudent security measures to protect its citizens.

How do you determine the proportionate use of military force? When Palestinian terrorists plant bombs at Israeli shopping malls and kill and maims dozens of civilians, would the "proportionate response" be for Israelis to plant bombs in Palestinian malls? No one in Israel believes this would be a legitimate use of force. Thus, Israel is left with the need to take measured action against specific targets in an effort to either deter Palestinian violence or stop it.

What would America do if terrorists bombed civilian targets? After 9/11, we saw that America took the same type of action as Israel by launching military strikes against the terrorists. U.S. forces used overwhelming force and, though they never targeted civilians, some were inadvertently killed.

Israeli soldiers do not deliberately target noncombatants. The murder of innocents is the goal of Palestinian terrorists.

IDF activities are governed by an overriding policy of restraint, the requirement of proportionality and the necessity to take all possible measures to prevent harm to innocent civilians.

No innocent Palestinians would be in any danger if the Palestinian Authority took steps to stop terrorism. Israel would have no reason to take military action if its citizens were not under constant threat.

No innocent Palestinians would be in danger if terrorists did not deliberately hide among them. If the peace-seeking Palestinians prevented the terrorists from living in their midst, Israel would have no reason to come to their neighborhoods.

It is a tragedy whenever innocent lives are lost, and Israelis have consistently expressed their sadness over Palestinian casualties. By contrast, when innocent Israelis are murdered by terrorists, Palestinians hold rallies to celebrate the murders.

As a democracy, when Israeli soldiers make mistakes in battle, they are called to account for those errors. On those occasions when Palestinian noncombatants are unintentionally injured, investigations are launched and the Israeli public debates the military's actions.

According to the rules of engagement for Israeli troops in the territories, the use of weapons is authorized solely in life-threatening situations or, subject to significant limitations, in the exercise of the arrest of an individual suspected of having committed a grave security offense.

To view an archive of fact sheets, visit the reference wing of the Jewish Virtual Library at http://www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org.