Yet despite the growing frequency and viciousness of these attacks, there are still people calling for Israel to sit down at the bargaining table with the same people who are killing their citizens in vast numbers.

The more we talk about peace in the Middle East, the more Israelis are killed in their schools, hotels, and shopping centers. This is certainly not a coincidence. But we should not reward the actions of the suicide bombers by insisting that the Israelis negotiate for peace when they are repeatedly targeted for annihilation.

The region will not suddenly achieve peace when bloodthirsty terrorists like Yasser Arafat (right) call for phony ceasefires and add their names to insignificant peace agreements that they have no intention of ever keeping. Peace can be achieved any time the Palestinians learn that they will not succeed in their objectives by engaging in random acts of terror. Moreover, the United States should exercise caution that they are not indirectly complicit in the continuing bloodbath.

How many people have to die in Israel before we think they have the right to retaliate? Must they follow the lead of the United States? Are they only justified in striking back when 3,000 are killed in one day?

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (left) is no more responsible for the suicide bombings than President Bush was for the attacks on September 11th. America enjoyed relative peace until a renegade band of murderous Muslims started turning the friendly skies into a killing field. Only a fool would suggest that these terrorist acts would cease if America simply turned the other cheek. Moreover, President Bush would be excoriated for doing nothing. So why should we expect anything less of Sharon?

Therefore, it is clearly not helpful when the president describes Israel’s recent actions as "not helpful." This only serves to undermine their position and further threaten their national security. Retaliatory acts by the Israelis are as infinitely justified as any of our missions in Afghanistan. Like the United States, the Israeli government has no interest in escalating the violence in the region. They are just seeking to end it.

A meaningful and lasting peace in the Middle East will never be achieved by negotiation. It will not be suddenly realized when the victim begs the forgiveness of the perpetrators. Order will not be permanently restored by photo ops or capitulation.

Peace will only come when the violent are killed or are rendered unable to kill anyone else. And on that point, there can be no compromise.

The war on terrorism will never be fully joined until lifelong career thugs are no longer elevated to the lofty status of diplomats. Terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein shouldn’t be forced to covertly operate in caves and bunkers while Yasser Arafat is emboldened to ply his trade in public. Like the Nazis at Nuremburg, this jackal should be formally tried and publicly hanged.

As Christians and Jews commemorate the hope and mercy of Easter and the Passover, we must not let our natural desire for peace blind us to the evil that still lurks in our midst. The actions of the past few months have revealed Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians as the enemies of peace, not the purveyors of it.

The Palestinians can share the blessings of peace with the Israelis any time they want it. They have only to give up their guns and bombs to end their unholy alliance with terror.