Gross, Er, Grossman

David Grossman, a well-known Israeli novelist, wrote in Maariv, "The image of the girl on the Gaza beach, whose life was torn to shreds before our very eyes, should pull us out of the hypnotic coma we have been in for years."

Mr. Grossman wrote that the Israeli Army, "with the fixed movements of a heavy piston," has been pounding the Palestinians "and ultimately only pummeling them deeper into their humiliation and rage and desire for revenge."

He urged Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to talk to the Palestinians, and added, "The disgrace on the Gaza beach is a defeat in a campaign that is far more important than the exchange of blows with the Palestinians — the campaign for our image as a people and as human beings."