The executive editor of Beirut‘s Daily Star newspaper suggests that the tide has turned against Israel in what he terms the "Palestinian-Israeli war." Rami Khouri opines that, "The Palestinians and Arabs are perhaps starting to win some battles, while Israel is losing some of its dominance." To support his position, Khouri – who is widely regarded as one of the Arab world’s most respected journalists – offers seven examples of Israeli losses. Among them, Khouri sees this summer’s 34-day war against Hizbullah as "a truly historic combination of political will, technical military proficiency, and a capacity to remain shielded from Israeli, Western and Arab spies and infiltrators. No Arab party had ever crossed this threshold in the century-long conflict with Zionism and Israel." The second Israeli loss, according to Khouri, is that Israel and the U.S. "had to accept a political resolution instead of military victory" to end the war. He sees Israel’s dropping of its demands for the return of captured soldiers from both Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, the failure to end the firing of Qassam rockets, the human shield of Palestinian women that protected armed gunmen inside a mosque from Israeli troops, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s concessions to Mahmoud ‘Abbas with nothing in return, as defeats.