According to an article in today’s online edition of the Washington Post, the U.N. and the U.S. remain at loggerheads over a plan to create a cease-fire in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah — a conflict which is tearing up Lebanon and claiming Israeli and Lebanese lives.

Since this latest crisis began, Israel has been condemned for its response to incursions by Hamas and Hezbollah. Israel’s critics range from world leaders like U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to political pundits to the general public. The bulk of the criticism falls into two broad categories: a belief that Israel’s response to the aggression of Hamas and Hezbollah has been disproportionate, and the assertion that killing Lebanese civilians will galvanize support for radical Islamic groups and turn more Arabs against Israel.

While I disagree with Israel’s critics, they have a point. Many Arabs are, after all, predisposed to see Israel as the aggressor, the interloper, the bully. Images of Lebanese civilians running from their homes, bleeding in the streets, and wailing over the bodies of loved ones killed in Israeli attacks will likely further stoke the flames of anti-Israeli sentiment. It will probably galvanize public support of terrorist groups, and perhaps even encourage more Arabs to support or outright join such groups.

So the answer, of course, is that Israel should just lay down its arms, right? If they turn the other cheek, show that they can be the bigger people, everything will be all right, won’t it?

No. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, and radical regimes that support them, like Iran, want to “push Israel into the sea.” They will not accept a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They will settle for no less than wiping Israel off the map.

That’s why groups like Hamas and Hezbollah stepped up their aggression against Israel, even after the Israelis unilaterally withdrew from territories they had been occupying. Rather than seeing an opportunity for peace, these radical factions saw weakness on Israel’s part and an opportunity to step up their attacks.

That’s the dilemma that Israel faces. If they back down before their enemies, their enemies will keep coming. Therefore, Israel must continue fighting in order to survive. Unfortunately, they are fighting enemies that hide amongst civilians in order to ensure that any Israeli retaliation will result in the deaths of innocents. Those enemies knowingly use that as a weapon in the war to win the hearts and minds of those on “the Arab street.”

In other words, Israel can “turn the other cheek” and be destroyed, or continue fighting and give many Arabs the excuse they’re looking for to keep attacking Israel.

That, folks, is a no-win situation. And don’t think for a moment that groups like Hamas and Hezbollah don’t know it.