Israel Matzav

Charged with spying, Lebanese Colonel flees to Israel

A Lebanese security source claimed late on Tuesday that a Lebanese army colonel who was suspected of spying for Israel fled across the border into Israel on Tuesday. Israel had no comment on the report.

This is just the latest in a story that has seen the arrest of some 50 Lebanese on charges of spying for Israel. Lebanon charges that the spy ring is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted at the end of the Second Lebanon War.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (pictured) had his usual spineless reaction:

In a regular report on Lebanon for the United Nations Security Council, issued on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was concerned about the Lebanese allegations of the Israeli spy-ring.

The allegations, "if proved, could endanger the fragile cessation of hostilities that exists between Israel and Lebanon," Ban wrote.

Ban went on to call on Israel and Lebanon to seek a permanent cease-fire in order to shore up their fragile peace, urging Lebanon to secure its border with Syria and saying Israel must complete its withdrawal from all land north of the so-called Blue Line, which separates Israeli and Lebanese forces.

It is more likely that the Israeli spying - if in fact it is occurring - is keeping the peace rather than endangering it. If Israel knows where Hezbullah has hidden weapons throughout southern Lebanon over the last three years, it is much more likely to be able to destroy those weapons on the ground, rather than letting them be used to kill hundreds of civilians. In turn, that means that the cost of going to war is high for Hezbullah and the potential gains are lower.

As to the 'blue line,' someone needs to remind Ban that his predecessor certified that Israel had complied with UN Security Council Resolution 425 and withdrawn to the 'blue line' on June 16, 2000. It was only two years ago that the UN decided retroactively to give Hezbullah causus belli by claiming that the Shaba Farms/Har Dov area is land liberated from Lebanon and not from Syria.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:33 PM