AP Photo

The radio news provoked me Tuesday morning with the report that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had "warned" that "if there is no agreement with Syria, we might arrive at an armed confrontation that could deteriorate into an all-out war." But before I was able to become alarmed, it transpired the warning had been made during a lecture to the senior command of the Israel Defense Forces. It was not clear what the objective was in making a warning at a forum of which the defense minister is in charge. If it was an instruction to the General Staff to prepare a blueprint for an attack on Syria, why publish it in public? If it was a diplomatic proposal, why not bring it to the cabinet? If it was a declaration designed to put pressure on the Finance Ministry to increase the defense budget, why...