My Two Shekels...: The Prophet Speaketh

We had the honor today of having Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, visit, as the newspaper Ha'aretz termed it, our "rocket-plagued city". He spoke to our fellow residents, encouraging us to stay alert because the katyushas are "not a one-time thing" and

"The Grad is heavier than the Qassam, and we have no way of preventing these things (rocket attacks) from recurring."

Not what you want to hear, but that's the reality. He also added:

"...this is the reality of the past 60 years and we must show restraint and strength."

Strength, yes. Restraint, um, ok (although I'm not seeing how "restraint" stops anything but yourself).

Now for prophetic part:

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip struck southern Ashkelon on Tuesday, ending a four-day lull in violence that began directly following the terrorist attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem last Thursday, which left eight yeshiva students dead.

No injuries or damage from the rocket strike was reported.

The rocket landed in south Ashkelon only a few hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert toured the rocket-plagued city...

Ok, predicting that terrorists will fire their rockets again is not exactly going out on a limb, but you have to give Olmert credit for the timing after his prediction. And thankfully the rocket was only a smaller Qassam and not the aforementioned Grad (though Ha'aretz doesn't specify, only saying it was a "rocket").

Toward the end of his visit to the southern city the prime minister said "I am leaving encouraged. I did not come to make any promises to the residents, but to convey to them that the situation is complex and that we have no immediate solutions. However, I am encouraged by the fact that the municipality, the residents and the students are not afraid.

Not afraid? Everyone (that is, everyone) we have spoken with here is quite afraid. Maybe Olmert is just encouraging us, which is needed, but the reality is rather sobering.