At this point, Israel and the West generally have to go on estimates of the attitude -- and changes to the attitude -- of Palestinian "civilians." Yes, yes, I know that's an increasingly nebulous category. I've said as much myself. But if Israel remains committed to sifting the terrorists out of the larger population, as police do with criminals, they have to try to stay tuned in to what their operations are doing to the larger population's opinion of them. That would only become irrelevant if Israel had fixed on a policy of extermination -- and, God bless them for their forbearance, they haven't done that yet.
The great difficulty here is that it's all but impossible to get hard information about Palestinian opinion of the terrorists in their midst, or of the Israeli operations against them. Anyone who speaks his mind has to be aware of the Arafat regime's proclivity for executing dissidents. As a result, assessments of the temper of Palestinian society are pretty much guesswork.
All the same, the war for public opinion and allegiance is as important as the war of bullets and bombs. We learned that in Vietnam. The Israelis must remain mindful of it.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
Assuming you're talking about Palestinian public opinion, Israel faces the problem that irrespective of her actions, opinion is moulded by the the PA controled media and educational system within the territories. I think Israel's ability to impact it is limited at best.