IN his article Israel's bombs test the limits of loyalty (Free Press, Aug. 3), Warren Goldstein, an American Jew, claims that nothing justifies Israel killing innocent civilians "in the hope of taking out a rocket launcher" and calls for the "killing to stop now," notwithstanding the fact that "the Israeli public seems unusually united in favour of the current offensive."

Why doesn't Mr. Goldstein write to Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and politely tell him that next time he sends Hezbollah terrorists to murder and kidnap Israeli soldiers and rains rockets on northern Israel, Israel won't go after any of his rocket launchers as long as they are hidden in civilian areas? Somehow we don't think that this kind of policy will deter Hezbollah. On the contrary, it will only embolden it to get more rockets and launch them with greater force on Israel.

Until Hezbollah is disarmed, we hope that Mr. Goldstein wouldn't mind trading places with his Israeli brethren, by living in the hot claustrophobic bomb shelters or in homes on the border with Lebanon, until he is satisfied that Hezbollah has disarmed. Mr. Goldstein could let an Israeli family needing a respite stay in his home in the United States, until this whole thing is sorted out. Maybe, then, Mr. Goldstein will better understand why most Israelis deem it essential to provide the citizens of their country with a more secure future, if they are to remain in Israel as opposed to seeking visas to North America or elsewhere.