Israel attacks the Gaza Strip , as Palestinians proclaim another intifada, one they vow will unleash “hell.” I understand that Israelis are fed up with Palestinians in Gaza shooting rockets at them from across the border. But choosing now to come down on the Palestinians does not help the United States. We finally have worked out a level of relative peace in Iraq, with progress on other fronts. We didn’t need Israel to stir up the Muslim world again. The timing also suggests that Israel is taking advantage of our leadership transition, striking hard one more time while President Bush is in office before the possibly more peaceful Barack Obama becomes president.