Israel Matzav

Skepticism justified

Remember how I said last night that I was skeptical of vague Lebanese claims to have confiscated arms from Hezbullah? One justification for my skepticism is in this morning's al-Guardian. The British daily contains an interview with Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, the leader of the Shia Amal militia, who is closely aligned with Hezbullah. This sure doesn't sound like Hezbullah is disarming anytime soon:

Hizbullah will resume its military campaign unless Israel withdraws from the disputed Shebaa farms area and other pockets of territory occupied during this summer's 34-day war, Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, has warned. "If Israel does not pull out we will have to drive them out," Mr Berri, who acted as a link to the militant organisation during this summer's war with Israel, said in an interview with the Guardian.

...

Hizbullah will remain armed and fully operational in south Lebanon, despite the newly deployed UN forces, until Israel withdraws from all Lebanese territory and ceases its air, sea and land violations, Mr Berri said. "The Unifil presence will not hinder Hizbullah's defensive operations. The resistance doesn't need to fly its flags high to operate. It's a guerrilla movement; it operates among the people," he said.

...

Mr Berri also expressed concern that UN forces could be involved in gathering information that could fall into the hands of Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad. "We don't want to interfere in their work, but we will be watching closely. We have to be careful, but we have a very effective intelligence service and we are used to watching for Israeli spies."

He added: "We will help them and give them everything they need to complete their mission but we will not accept the force if its presence is to secure Israel. They are on our land, so that means they have to work in the interests of Lebanon, not Israel."

...

He said there was concern the foreign troops may stay indefinitely, as security council resolution 1701 does not specify a time frame for the mission. "We hope that when they have done their duty, when Israel has stopped their aggressions and withdrawn from all Lebanese territory, Unifil will go on their way."

Only a fool Ehud Olmert, Amir Comrade Peretz or Tzippy Livni would expect UNIFIL to protect Israel from Hezbullah.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:00 PM