I may be mistaken, but my understanding is that our most recent military "foray" into the Mid East at the time was Carter's attempt to rescue the hostages at the Iranian Embassy in Tehran. I would not be surprised if the Israelis thought we were weak. What does a commander do to ascertain an opponent's strength? I suppose "harrass" is close enough.
The fact of the matter is, this is an editorial (directed to a specific audience) disguised as an article. So we and the Israelis got into a dust-up 20 years ago. Is it time to forgive yet, or are we still waiting to forgive Gen. Montgomery for his differences with Gen. Patton?
Well you're right. Sharon did think he could push us around. He thought that then and he thinks it today.