Today's rosie coup in Thailand had interesting timing. Just as our chief of staff made his first response to the growing calls on him to resign, his Thai counterpart was planning the overtaking of the government compound in Bangkok.

Can the army stage a similiar revolution over here? Laugh not at the suggestion. The military has always been a very dominant force in our society and politics. It has had politically-outspoken head commanders, several of whom went to become heads of state. Army generals are called in to Knesset committee sessions, government meetings, emergency consultations, as though they bear the gospel in the binders under their arms.

What if it all faded into a distant memory? What if Israel became a truly civilian society that mitigated old military threats with diplomacy?

Or to the contrary, what if generals felt that dangers were mounting and the political leadership was not doing enough to mitigate them? This is the premise of Amos Keinan's eerie novel The Road to Ein Harod, which was also filmed. In the story, an anti-militarist Tel Aviv man tries to make his way to Kibbutz Ein Harod, which is rumored to be the last standing fortress of freedom.

I think the current uncertainties faced by the top echelons of the Israel Defense Forces justify a coup. Who would dare challenge its supremacy once it takes over the Knesset, the government offices, the President's Residence? Predators are the most dangerous when cornered...

So maybe it would not be far-fetched to claim that Thailand is actually more stable than our democracy?

While our head of state wavers at any rumor of a new dive in opinion polls, the Siamese monarch enjoys unparalleled popularity.

The military revolutionaries emphasized that they have nothing against their king and that they are not challenging his authority. Their actions are directed against the executive leader of the state, Prime Minister (?) Thaksin Shinawatra. Nothing but the good of the country stands before their eyes, they say.