There are exactly two issues that will determine the outcome of the war we are in. Everything else is chump change.

1. We need jet fuel from the U.S. to maintain or increase the pace of our air attacks. Our dependence on the U.S. for jet fuel is one of the main levers American presidents have used to pressure Israel. It doesn't matter what Bush or Rice say in public, it doesn't matter how many votes Israel gets in polls on major news sites. They just need to give us jet fuel. (Yes, it would slightly improve our negotiating position if FM Tzippi Livni at least pretended that we aren't desperate for the world's love. It's as if our diplomacy were being run by Janis Ian at seventeen.)

2. We are scared, and for damn good reason, to fight a ground battle. But the longer they maintain the ability to fire rockets at our cities, the more clear it becomes that air strikes alone can't do the trick. At last count they had 13,000 known rockets pointed our way (including some of higher quality than we have seen so far [Hat tip: Ben Bayit]) and they haven't yet gone through the first 1000, so exhausting their supply is probably not the way to go. If and when it becomes clear that we need to fight that battle, we can't afford to blink and we can't afford to lose.