Israel, not the sheep we thought it was

History's regret.
"Go and explain to every man in the stree that the 1.Cairo trial is
of our making, and 2.Bat Galim is one battle in a campaign, and
the 3. prisoners in Syria failed in an operation that we initiated, and
that if Arabs had failed in our territory, we would have killed them
on the spot without any argument, as we did with the legionnaires
who innocently strayed into our strip of land near Mevo'ot Betar,
and every one of them has a mother who mourns her son even if
she is not a member of Parliament like Piga Ilanit - go and explain
all that. It is clear that the Ajour murder was the last straw and the
anger must be assuaged. Only this is the logic, none other. I do not
believe that, from the security point of view, retaliation will make
the slightest difference. On the contrary, I fear that it will serve as
the opening link in a new chain of bloodshed in the border area. "
Moshe Sharett, Prime minister of Israel 1953~1955, moderate voice in parliament against overwhelming call for a reprisal attack against Jordan following a border incident. Stating that most of the public was misguided concerning most of the incidents between Israel and their surrounding Arab countries, that in fact many of the incidents were provoked by Israel herself. Sharett was unable to control the military departments and the rising call for activism. He resigned all government duties in 1956.
1.Cairo trial: pending the withdrawal of british troops from the Suez Canal Zone. Military leaders in Israel believed that this act would remove the barrier between the two countries and would be followed by western military assistance to Egypt. They believed the withdrawal must be prevented. A Jewish espionage ring was formed by the military intelligence to cause mayhem in Egypt and thus convince the British that Egypt was unstable and it was unwise to withdraw. The parliament was not informed of this operation, nor was Sharett who would have been adamently against it. The attempts were amateurish at best and the ring was caught and tried. One committed suicide and two were executed.
2. Bat Galim: A test vessel that was sent through the Suez Canal to challenge Egyptian closure, whose blockage was a violation of the 1951 Security Council resolution. The ship was captured and held, but later released (but not allowed to pass through the canal) after brief negotiations with then president of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser as an act of good faith by Egypt.
3. Prisoners in Syria: A party of five Israeli soldiers conducting a mission to pick up a phone line tapping device were caught several kilometers inside Syria's territory. Matters were made worse when one of the soldiers who happened to be the son of a prominent political woman in Israel committed suicide in prison.