Israel does not have the fortitude to withstand an ongoing war of attrition with the Arabs. That was the message this week in an editorial that appeared in Egypt's "Al Ahrar" newspaper. Journalist Fathi Khattab writes: "While Israelis may possess an arsenal full of mass destruction weapons, we have a whole army of men ready to turn into human bombs, to strike deep in the heart of Israel. Tel Aviv is well aware that, unlike military confrontations, the calculations in the case of dealing with the sweeping tide of an oppressed people are precarious. Sha'oul Movaz, Israel's Chief of Staff, has summarized the situation most aptly when he declared that his country now faces a most difficult moment in its history, if indeed it has any, with the conflict moving to its heart. Natan Scharansky has been more concise when he described it as a state of war which cannot be long endured." According to Khattab, Israel's low morale prompted Prime Minister Sharon to invite the Bush administration to mediate between himself and Arafat: "Given the details of the situation, it is not strange thus that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called upon the United States to help bring pressure to bear upon Palestinian President Arafat to end the intifada on the pretext that Tel Aviv cannot any more exercise self-restraint. The truth, however, is that Israel can no longer tolerate confrontation."