On the 15th anniversary of Israel's flight from southern Lebanon, Arutz Sheva discusses the role of former radio broadcaster and current Labor party MK Shelley Yachimovitch in bringing about the order to surrender.
Yechimovich, who grew up in a communist household and admitted to
having voted for the communist party in at least one national election,
started her journalistic career as a reporter for now defunct radical
socialist newspaper Al Hamishmar.
She ascended to dominance as an activistic journalist who became
known as a leading spokesperson for radical feminism – a creed also
referred to as genderism, and defined by neo-conservative Professor Ruth
Wisse as “if not the most extreme then certainly the most influential
neo-Marxist movement in America” – which was imported into Israel in the
1970s and 80s.
Yechimovich's genius was the framing of demands for withdrawal from
the IDF's self-styled security belt in Lebanon as products of a
"feminine wisdom" that was lost upon Israel's “macho” decision-makers.
By doing so, she brought the considerable power of Israel's genderist
journalists into play, and these were joined by male journalists, too,
in a uniform chorus clamoring for a swift retreat.
Another editor in Kol Yisrael's newsroom, Dr. Hanan Naveh, would later disclose in a public speech that three editors in Kol Yisrael's
newsroom had decided to bring about the withdrawal of the IDF from
Lebanon. He mentioned Yechimovich and her colleague, Military Affairs
Reporter Carmela Menashe, as spearheading the effort. Naveh made clear
that Kol Yisrael amplified reports on casualties and setbacks
suffered by the IDF in southern Lebanon. This reporting sapped public
support for the war effort.
Through near-daily interviews, Yechimovich and Menashe succeeded in
turning a tiny group of four peaceniks from northern kibbutzim – the
Four Mothers – into a hugely influential movement. This campaign began
in 1997 and kept going until the withdrawal from Lebanon.
Israel Radio has behaved in this manner regarding other issues. It's no secret that Israel's government-funded broadcast media is particularly Leftist. For that matter, so are other parts of the Israeli media. And while Yachmiovich gets a lot of 'credit' for keeping the 'Four Mothers' campaign in the news, she's far from the only one at fault.
At the end of the day, Israel's media makes the news rather than reporting on it and displays an extreme left-wing bias. While Yachimovich was guilty of giving the Four Mothers far more exposure than they deserved, she was far from the only one at fault. Many others had the opportunity to stop the bias or to give alternative explanations an opportunity to be heard.
The anniversary of the liberation of the South in the twenty-fifth of May, the "Ambassador" newspaper visited military sites for Hezbollah, including a tunnel located in a border point forward very sensitive. It is true that technology already tunnels of the enemy discovered that its implications in the war in July, but the style evolution. Change the type of cement. It changed the way the ventilation and methods of packaging food and weapons have changed. Electricity is available to 24 from 24 during generators placed underground also. As for the food, no longer depends on the tins. It became specialists feeding preparing food prepared for storage, so as to ensure the fighter during the war to get his need of food and energy for weeks. Each bag has three packs written on each of them to its content of food, in addition to health benefits, where the fighter to eat sequentially selected in advance, in order to ensure receiving a complete and balanced meal. These shares are not for consumption only during the war, but in the days of processing and preparation, Vmqaumen to get their food routinely.
The readiness of the resistance suggest that the war will break out today or tomorrow. The food is ready and the band has a logistics counting all units of the food and distribute it to all sites and bunkers, it has traditionally replaced five months before the expiry. In the tunnel, the air is no different from the outside. Machines pull moisture to protect iron from rust and existing ventilation machines are also present, as emergency exits right and left. Concerned did not run out a small detail.
Having missiles became jacketed Bnailon lugged him in the air and placed inside anti-moisture material, concerned did not forget to leave her side blades so that the fighter can open them quickly at the moment of the war.
Who thinks that Alemradan fighters defy boredom Ballho or long wait mistaken .. narrowed years several months later and narrowed decades years, and if the war was yet to come, it may come days, so, the work in the construction of new fortifications and tunnels restless on the clock, instead of tens thousands of rockets ready for launch, there is no harm hundreds of thousands, note that the drilling is done manually and is strictly rudimentary equipment to draw attention. The backfill resulting from this process, Faisar to fill bags and then carried to the relatively distant places where they can be sprayed in the fields and then covered with leaves up to fraternize with nature, because survival in bags, you may draw the enemy's point of view.
From visiting the southern border and meet with resistance, he realizes that "the Party of God," the main structure in the face of the Israeli threat not changed. It goes on a mission to Syria, is due to be completed as soon as its location. Do not vacuum or vacancy in any site in the hierarchy of the party, even if for a few seconds. The alternative for each fighter went to Syria or on vacation. Key leadership positions they never leave the south. "Mr. Jihad" and all his team are firm in their places. They are responsible for the readiness of their sector to address any possible attack, and also missile force, is supposed to be ready ambushes, which is an integrated system all of which may not be limited to containers, booby, but include a weapon against armor and support firearm.
Sounds like it could yet be a hot summer, God Forbid.
I am back in Israel now. The Shavuot holiday immediate follows Shabbat. Here in Israel, it is only one day (everyplace else, it is two). Therefore, I will be back online God willing on Sunday night.
The Israel Defense Forces has withdrawn most of its troops from
Gaza's battle zones on Sunday, although no official order has been
issued to end Operation Protective Edge.
The military's Southern Command is concerned over possible sniper attacks on soldiers near the enclave's border.
Israeli
forces that remain in Gaza are working on destroying one more tunnel
near Rafah. Other units are operating in Beit Hanun. The IDF has decided
to keep some forces within Gaza to protect Israeli communities near the
border.
A senior officer said
on Sunday morning that a security zone within the enclave "should be
maintained for defense purposes, and we are prepared to attack as well."
The units that have withdrawn from the Strip remain near the border.
Military
officials say that IDF reservists have yet to be released in a sweeping
manner, although some have been sent home for periods of rest. The
military continues to define the area near Gaza's border, east of Route
232, as a closed military zone. No order has been issued with regard to
the operation's completion, the officials said.
Sounds like we're going to leave a few troops on the border to maintain a security zone. If that term sounds familiar, think southern Lebanon. What could go wrong?
IAF hits target near Beirut, PFLP claims they were the target
The IAF struck a 'terror target' south of Beirut on Friday morning. The Popular Front for the Liberation of 'Palestine' claims that they were the target, but the IAF is not saying whether that's true. A Sunni group had taken 'credit' for the Katyusha rockets fired at Israel on Thursday that prompted Friday's attack.
"Yesterday’s attack is a blatant breach on Israeli sovereignty that
jeopardized Israeli civilian life. Israel will not tolerate terrorist
aggression originating from Lebanese territory," the IDF said.
According
to the statement, the Israeli air strike was hit the target accurately
and announced that all of the pilots involved in the mission returned to
Israel safely.
A Palestinian militant group in Lebanon said one
of its bases south of Beirut was the target hit by the IAF, but said it
caused no injuries or significant damage, Hezbollah-affiliated TV
network Al-Manar reported.
The station quoted a spokesman for the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command as saying
the group's base in Na'ameh was attacked. The spokesman said the PFLP-GC
was surprised it was targeted because the earlier rocket fire was
claimed by a separate al-Qaida-linked Sunni Muslim group.
A
Lebanese security source confirmed that a rocket hit an area near
Na'ameh, south of the Lebanese capital Beirut, near a network of tunnels
used by the PFLP-GC in hills overlooking the Mediterranean coast. He
said the rocket caused a 5-meter (16-foot) crater, but no casualties.
Israel
said it holds the Lebanese government responsible for the rocket fire
that occurred on Thursday, even though a Sunni group called the Abdallah
al-Azzam Brigades claimed responsibility for the rockets earlier on
Thursday.
[T]he PFLP-GC was surprised it was targeted because the earlier rocket
fire was claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Brigades -- an al-Qaeda-linked
group which had claimed similar rocket fire on Israel in 2009 and 2011.
Hours after the militants fired four rockets on Israel from Lebanon
Thursday, the Jewish state’s air forces carried out an attack against
them.
“The IAF (Israeli air force) targeted a terror site located
between Beirut and Sidon in response to a barrage of four rockets
launched at northern Israel yesterday,” Agence France-Presse quoted a
statement from the army as saying.
“The pilots reported direct hits to the target.”
...
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman also denounced the Thursday rocket
fire. He said it was a violation of U.N. resolutions and of Lebanese
sovereignty and urged security forces to hunt the gunmen and bring them
to justice.
Gee, you don't think Sleiman is wetting his pants over the prospect of finding himself in the same position as Fouad Saniora was seven years ago, do you?
Israel did what had to be done. We couldn't just exercise 'restraint' as Obama urged, because if we did, we'd be hit again. But there was no need to go ballistic over a couple of rockets that did no damage. But if this happens again, or if God forbid there is damage, we have sent the message that all hell will break loose.
Breaking: Katyusha rockets from Lebanon slam into western Galilee
Three or four Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward the western Galilee on Thursday afternoon. One was shot down by Iron Dome between Akko and Nahariya on the Mediterranean coast. The others did not fall in Israel according to the IDF spokesman.
Three to four rockets were fired at Israel from south Lebanon, from an
area south of Tyre. One rocket was intercepted by Iron Dome between Acre
and Nahairya. The remainder did not fall in Israeli territory, IDF
Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai said.
At least two explosions
were heard in the vicinity of the northern Israeli city of Nahariya,
according to Channel 2. No injuries or damage was reported.
According to Channel 10, two people who went in shock have been rushed to hospital in Nahariya for treatment.
Channel
2 is reporting that the Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted one
of the rockets. The other three projectiles landed in uninhabited areas.
Channel
2 is also reporting that witnesses saw three rockets explode near
Nahariya. At least one rocket is known to have hit a kibbutz near the
city.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the
attack. Southern Lebanon is a stronghold of Lebanese Hezbollah
guerrillas and Palestinian militants have launched rockets from that
area at Israel in the past.
The picture at the top is from Nahariya in 2006 (the Second Lebanon War). Are we headed there again? Is Hezbullah looking for another war? If so, I don't believe that Israel has the time to do things surgically as was done in 2006. I would look for a war to be a lot bloodier.
But I don't think this has anything to do with Israel. I think it has to do with Hezbullah needing to remind the Lebanese people that Israel is the 'real enemy' and not the combatants in the civil war in Syria.
Israeli military fighter jets flew, before noon on Wednesday at a
medium altitude, over Nabatieh, Ikleem al Tuffah, Marjayoun and Khiam
in south Lebanon according to local reports.
About 22 Israeli soldiers were also reportedly seen with “Merkava” tanks near the Wazzani parks along the barbed wire.
The report added that the Israeli soldiers paraded in the area for
about 3 hours, and moved one of the tanks to the occupied village of
Ghajar in the vicinity of a military location. This prompted Lebanese
army soldiers stationed in their position at the top of the Wazzani
parks to mobilize and monitor the Israeli moves and at the same time
“UNIFIL” forces were seen patrolling the area.
A rocket was fired from Lebanon toward Israel early Monday morning. Thus far, there is no indication that the rocket landed in Israel, there is no damage to property in Israel and no injuries to people in Israel. The IDF is searching for the rocket.
The rocket launch could be heard from the Lebanese town of Marjayoun,
about 10 km (six miles) from the Israeli border. The IDF Spokesperson
said residents of the northern Israeli town of Metula reported hearing
an explosion.
The head of the Metula Regional Council, Herzl Boker, told Maariv that residents heard a projectile shriek past falling south of Metula.
"We haven't opened the bomb shelters, but we are ready," he said.
The IDF has launched a search of the area for a potential rocket blast site, though none has been found so far.
Unarmed (!?!) UN troops on Syrian and Lebanese borders with Israel attacked
You'd think they were patrolling the borders between the US and Canada rather than what are probably the two most heavily armed borders in the world. Twice in the last week, unarmed UN troops have been attacked. On Monday, Finnish UNTSO forces were attacked on the Syrian side of the southern Golan Heights and on Saturday, Belgian UNIFIL troops were attacked in southern Lebanon.
This is from the first link.
Finnish UNTSO military observers were paired to take care of a routine mission when armed men stopped their vehicle. An Arabic-speaking duo forced the observers out at gunpoint. The observers didn’t understand the language, but quickly figured out the plot.
- The intention was clear: out of the car, they wanted it, Lieutenant Colonel Jukka Honkanen says.
Honkanen has talked to the threatened Finnish observers. According to Honkanen, the observers after the first moments feel it to be a life threatening situation. It was clear that these men didn’t want to do violence, but to take the car. The thieves ended up with not only UNproperty but the observers property as well.
Notice the apologetics.... Of course they didn't feel threatened....
This is from the second link.
Residents of south Lebanon briefly blocked a road in front of Belgian
peacekeepers Saturday and stole a memory card belonging to one of the
patrol’s members, security sources told The Daily Star. After the
Belgian unit, specialized in demining, took pictures of a mine field in
the Marjayoun village of Mais al-Jabal and was on its way out of the
area, residents in their car blocked the path of a vehicle belonging to
the Belgium contingent of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon,
the sources said. The residents then stole a memory card of a
camera that belonged to the peacekeepers. The sources said there was no
physical confrontation between the residents and the peacekeepers. Items belonging to UNFIL have been taken off its members in the past. The head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, Maj. Gen. Paulo Serra, has warned against intercepting UNIFIL patrols
and confiscating their equipment, saying that such actions are not only
illegal, they could escalate, endangering both soldiers and civilians. [more]
And these people are going to prevent Hezbullah or Syria from starting a war with Israel? Why on earth are they out without weapons?
Once again, my college classmate, Rabbi Pruzansky, is excellent.
It should not be overlooked that the foundation for this vote was
laid by the Israelis many years ago. The Oslo Accords, whatever the
technical language, was obviously designed to create a Palestinian
state. That agreement was an explicit admission by the Jewish state that
the Jewish people are not the exclusive sovereigns in the land of
Israel, despite G-d’s eternal promises set forth in the Bible.
Governments of the left and the right embraced that outcome in one form
or another. Menachem Begin himself recognized (in 1978) the “legitimate
rights of the Palestinian people,” a phrase that stuck in his craw but
that he accepted based on his lawyerly interpretation that the words
“legitimate rights” could be interpreted to mean anything he wanted it
to mean and not what the other signatories understood it to mean. So the
chickens of Oslo, Lebanon, and Gush Katif have indeed come home to
roost.
And yet, whatever the psychological value (and most Arabs will
assume that the vote means something that it does not, and fire their
weapons in the air in celebration), the vote has no effect in the real
world. Nothing changes here, today, anymore that Arafat’s declaration of
statehood amounted to anything in 1988. A General Assembly vote has no
legal status at all. Abba Eban said it eloquently: “If Algeria
introduced a General Assembly resolution that the world is flat and that
Israel had flattened it, it would find overwhelming support in the Arab
world” and elsewhere. And he said it almost forty years ago. Nothing
has changed there, either.
Abbas still needs to be propped up by Israel. There is no
Palestinian state. The PA and Hamas are still bitter rivals, and Abbas
knows that his political career ends the moment the people are given the
right to vote him out, whenever that is. The UN carnival, typically,
just distracts the world from the real crises in the region – Iran’s
nuclear bomb, Syria’s civil war and Egypt’s ongoing unrest. Anyone who
still needs proof of the mendacity and hypocrisy rampant in the Arab
world needs to consider only the howls of protest when 150 Arabs were
killed and several hundred wounded in the clashes in Gaza – squeals that
were intended to awaken the world to the horrors of a nation (Israel)
exercising its right of self-defense – while the Arab world is dormant
at the massacres in Syria of more than 35,000 people, and the turmoil in
Egypt where already more than 500 people have been injured.
It’s not the civilian deaths or injury that seem to disturb the
Arab world and its malevolent allies across the world; it’s that the
cursed Jews are doing it, and in defense of their right to exist.
There are two obvious conclusions to this vote. One, that Oslo is
officially dead, and this declaration vitiates its very premises of
negotiations over final status issues, and, two, that the United States
is now bound by law to cut its funding of the Palestinian Authority. But
neither will happen and the blatant violations will be finessed,
because neither the US nor Israel has any real interest in changing the
dynamic of the struggle. That complicity is emblematic of the failures
of Israeli politicians for decades that have seen Israel’s strategic
position deteriorate slowly but inexorably.
Nonetheless, in the beleaguered town of Sderot, barely two miles
from Gaza and the recipient of thousands of missiles and rockets in the
last ten years, one encounters today personal strength and courage, a
desire to rebuild, lifelong residents who have no interest in moving to
safer zones. Their resilience is an inspiration to all Jews, and their
heroic story will yet be told. In the new communities built to house the
Jewish refugees driven out of Gaza in 2005, one encounters the same
determination, along with sadness about what was lost and the
unshakeable (and usually unmentioned) feeling of “I told you so,” the
unheeded warnings of what would befall Israel if they retreated under
pressure from Gaza.
All these brave souls have been betrayed by governments with
convoluted miscalculations, wishful thinking and illusions disguised as
policies, unkept promises repeated in every election cycle, or
statecraft that is often illogical and self-destructive.
The people of Israel deserve better; if only they would realize it and act upon it.
The video was presented during a debriefing by Brigadier General Hartzi Halevi, Commander of the 91st Division (Galilee Formation), which is responsible for the Lebanese border sector.
Let's go to the videotape.
As you can see, the terror operatives drive right up to the border and look across, knowing that the IDF will not fire at them.
During the debriefing, Halevi said, “The IDF sees the connection between the ongoing events in Syria and the terror activity at the northern border, and is preparing accordingly. The chances of hostile activity in the border region are continuously increasing, and therefore, we are required to be prepared. There is more than just one way to violate the calm at the northern border, but the IDF will know to provide a clear and keen response against any possible scenario.
“The challenges we face are numerous. We will have to see how we face the complex challenge that includes an enemy with multiple capabilities. However, we will be able to operate on Lebanese soil, should it be required, and inflict considerable damage to the terror centers present there.”
IDF: 'If there's another war with Hezbullah, Lebanon is headed for the 8th century
In events marking the 6th anniversary of the Second Lebanon War, senior IDF officers warned that because of the way that Hezbullah has embedded itself among Lebanese civilians, much of Lebanon's civilian infrastructure will be destroyed, and many Lebanese civilians will be killed in the event of another war.
The Goldstone report which criticized Israel's operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in 2009, will pale in comparison to what will happen to Lebanon in a future war with Hezbollah, a senior IDF officer in the Northern Command said on Thursday.
"The destruction will be greater in Lebanon than in Israel and the amount of explosives which will fall there will be far more than what will fall here...We will need to be strong and aggressive," the officer said.
Brig.-Gen. Herzi Halevy, commander of Division 91, clarified the remark and told reporters that the destruction will be extensive due to Hezbollah's decision to establish its command posts and bases inside villages and towns throughout Lebanon.
Halevy, who commanded over the Paratroopers Brigade during Operation Cast Lead in 2009, said that Israel will take immediate action - from the air and on the ground - in a future war that will cause "extensive damage but not as a punishment but rather to hit the enemy where it is."
"The damage will be far greater [in Lebanon] than the Second Lebanon War," Halevy said.
...
Last week, for example, a small force of soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade were on patrol along the border when they spotted a group of LAF troops standing 20 meters away aiming their weapons - including an RPG - at the Israeli force. One of the Israeli soldiers, who speaks Arabic, heard the LAF commander dividing up targets to his troops. The Israeli soldiers called in a backup force which quickly arrived at the scene leading the LAF troops to withdraw.
As for Syria's hold on Lebanon and Damascus' control over Hezbollah, Halevy said it is hard to believe that a Lebanese offensive against Israel would serve any of Syrian President Bashar Assad's objectives at this time.
The IDF is following the developments in Syria very closely, a top military source said. Should the regime be overthrown, Hezbollah may choose to strike Israel – or Israeli targets worldwide – "to set the tone."
As for concerns that various advanced weapons are, or will be, making their way from Damascus to Hezbollah, the officer said that "So far, we have yet to see things like surface-to-air missiles find their way from Syria to Hezbollah."
Hopefully the current leadership will prove better in battle than Olmert, Peretz and Halutz.
An Israeli jet blew up on Monday a spy device between the southern towns of Zrariyeh and Tayr Filsay, reported various media outlets.
Al-Manar television said that the attack targeted a device that was located on a Hizbullah telecommunications cable.
The party later confirmed the attack in a brief statement.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati has requested that the Army Command tackle the incident with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon command.
The western sector in southern Lebanon has since witnessed heavy overflights by Israeli warplanes above the stream of the Litani River, reported LBC television.
Hizbullah has also cordoned off the area.
Israel Radio reports, based on Lebanese sources in its 7:00 pm newscast, that the device 'straddled the Litani River.' The Litani River is about 25 miles north of the Lebanese border with Israel, and is the unofficial border of 'Hezbullahland.'
I have yet to see any comments on this from Israeli sources.
Hmmm.
UPDATE 9:30 PM
Israeli media is now picking this up. JPost reports that the IDF is declining comment (what a surprise). YNet adds:
According to the report, the device was planted on a Hizbullah telecommunications cable. The device was destroyed by Israel because the terror group had exposed it, the National News Agency reported.
Lebanese media reported that Israeli warplanes have been flying at a low altitude over the country's southern sector since the afternoon hours, while Hizbullah has cordoned off the area.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar television network reported that Israel detonated an explosive device planted on one of the "resistance's" communication lines.
An El-Nashra reporter said an unmanned plane detonated the device, which Hezbollah says was planted by Israel.
...
Shortly after the strike Hezbollah issued a statement saying it had "thwarted an espionage attempt by the Zionist enemy when it uncovered Israeli surveillance equipment in the valley between villages Dir Kifa and Srifa in southern Lebanon."
If you believe that last line, I have a bridge over the Litani to sell you.
There is nothing bad about Israel that is not believed in Lebanon, no matter how unbelievable it may seem to objective observers. The latest is that Lebanon is claiming that Israel 'arranged' to have rockets shot at Israel from Lebanon.
Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn Monday blamed Israel and its agents for the firing of mysterious rockets from Lebanon into the Jewish state in an attempt to undermine security and stability in south Lebanon.
“The party that has launched mysterious rockets from the south is known,” Ghosn told The Daily Star by telephone, in a clear reference to Israel and its agents. However, he did not elaborate.
“Lebanon’s enemies, namely Israel, have no interest in the continuation of calm and stability in the south,” he said.
Yeah, sure....
The picture at the top is from the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
4 more rockets 'found' near Lebanese border with Israel
Lebanese military intelligence has 'found' four rockets near the Lebanese-Israeli border. Apparently, they didn't look hard enough.
Lebanese officials said army troops have discovered four rockets near the country's border with the Israel, a Lebanese paper reported on Monday.
The officials said it was not immediately clear whether the rockets were primed to fire.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that the rockets were found by military intelligence near the village of Majidieh, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet.
Monday's discovery comes a week after a rocket directed toward Israel fell short in Lebanon, injuring a woman in the southern region.
Security sources said the rocket was fired from the Wadi al-Qaisiyeh area, about 2 km (one mile) from the frontier and landed in the village of Hula inside Lebanon.
I could tell them a few more places where they could find rockets if they really want to look for them.
Five French UNIFIL troops and two other persons were wounded by a roadside bomb near Tyre, Lebanon on Friday.
"I can confirm that a UNIFIL vehicle was hit by an explosion in Tyre," UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said.
A Reuters reporter saw six wounded people at the scene minutes after the explosion. Security sources said five of them were French UNIFIL personnel, and that two passersby had also been wounded. Most of the injuries were light but medical sources said one of the UNIFIL soldiers was badly wounded.
Friday's attack followed two roadside bombings targeting UNFIL forces near the city of Sidon earlier this year. In May six Italian peacekeepers were wounded, prompting Italy to look into reducing its peacekeeping contribution in Lebanon.
Two months later six French soldiers were wounded in another attack.
The French are not thrilled with the 'well-negotiated' Security Council Resolution 1701, which set up UNIFIL's current configuration and operating rules. They're looking for an excuse to leave. Hezbullah has enough weapons that it no longer needs to tolerate UNIFIL nor does it need it for cover.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon called for “maximum restraint” on Tuesday after an exchange of fire over the Israel-Lebanon border overnight. Rockets fired from southern Lebanon struck northern Israel for the first time since 2009, and the Israeli military responded by firing artillery shells at the area where the rockets were launched. ... This is a serious incident, in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, and is clearly directed at undermining stability in the area,” the commander of the peacekeeping force, Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta Cuevas, said in a statement.
Very nice of General Cuevas to acknowledge the violation of 1701, but the acquisition of those rockets was itself a violation of that resolution. It was a violation that UNIFIL had clearly failed to prevent. There would be "maximum restraint" from Israel had UNIFIL been doing its job.
Whatever job UNIFIL has been doing, Elder of Ziyon notes that it has a hard time staying on message. While the New York Times seems uncertain about Hezbollah's involvement in the rocket fire, Elder of Ziyon notes that Hezbollah's control over southern Lebanon is such that the rockets couldn't have been fired without Hezbollah's acquiescence. Similarly Lee Smith writes (h/t Challah Hu Akbar ):
The Galilee region was bombarded heavily during Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah, but in the last five years that area, as well as the Lebanon-Israel border, has been largely quiet. It's still not clear if Hezbollah is behind the attack, but given the organization's control of south Lebanon, from where the rockets seem to have been launched, it is unlikely that any military operations of this nature could take place there without Hezbollah's knowledge.
2) A great global thinker makes at least two mistakes
Diagnosis: From the very start, Israeli officials have insisted that Obama helped to push Mubarak out rather than saving him. Nonsense. The Arab dictators were pushed out by their people; there was no saving them. In fact, Mubarak had three decades to gradually open up Egyptian politics and save himself. And what did he do? Last year, he held the most-rigged election in Egyptian history. His party won 209 out of 211 seats. It is amazing that the uprising didn’t happen sooner.
But as Barry Rubin observes, Mubarak's downfall was essentially a coup. (In general, Prof. Rubin's column points out that throughout the "Arab spring" the military has been the crucial factor in determining whether the revolution succeeds or fails.) The protests would not have forced Mubarak out, without the military turning against him too.
Friedman's observations are not without merit. The reform movement was getting stronger in Egypt and might have been making headlines even on its own. That still doesn't mean that it was the protests that, in the end, forced Mubarak out.
Further on he writes:
Netanyahu’s prescription is to do nothing. I understand Israel not ceding territory in this uncertain period to a divided Palestinian movement. What I can’t understand is doing nothing. Israel has an Arab awakening in its own backyard in the person of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the Palestinian Authority. He’s been the most radical Arab leader of all. He is the first Palestinian leader to say: judge me on my performance in improving my peoples’ lives, not on my rhetoric. His focus has been on building institutions — including what Israelis admit is a security force that has helped to keep Israel peaceful — so Palestinians will be ready for a two-state solution. Instead of rewarding him, Israel has been withholding $100 million in Palestinian tax revenues that Fayyad needs — in punishment for the Palestinians pressing for a state at the U.N. — to pay the security forces that help to protect Israel. That is crazy.
First of all, Friedman is now reversing himself. Earlier on he's written that Israel must accede to Palestinian demands in response to the Arab spring. Now he's writing that he "understands" Israel not ceding territory.
In addition to these two specific errors, Friedman makes one of his patented sweeping assertions that seem to make sense, but fall apart under slightest scrutiny.
Arab dictators were convenient for Israel and the Islamists — but deadly for Arab development and education. Now that the lid has come off, the transition will be rocky. But, it was inevitable, and the new politics is just beginning: Islamists will now have to compete with legitimate secular parties.
The dictators were not convenient for the Islamists as they persecuted them. The Islamists though, took advantage because they had a long term vision and were patient. Of course given the Islamists long term thinking and patience, they will not just compete with, but dominate the legitimate secular parties.
Given the number of wars that Arab dictators started with Israel, it's hard to say that they were convenient for Israel. But if he means that Sadat and Mubarak largely observed the peace in their time in power he has a point, but it is a very limited one. After 1967 and 1973, those Arab dictators may have rejected open warfare with Israel but sponsored terrorist organizations like the PLO, Hamas and Hezbollah to carry on the fight for them. (I would point out that the so-called Arab peace initiative of 2002 was advocated by these very same dictators whom Friedman now derogates; yet then, they were convenient for him to declare that Arabs wanted peace and Israel didn't.)
Also weighing in are My Right Word (arguing that Israel hasn't done nothing) and Elder of Ziyon and HonestReporting (observing the emptiness of Friedman's "Fayyadism").
IDF artillery cannons pounded Lebanese targets early Tuesday morning in response to at least three rockets fired into northern Israel.
Three 122 millimeter rockets fired from within Lebanon, just north of the border, landed in the Western Galilee shortly after midnight, with police searching for a possible fourth rocket. No injuries were reported in the attacks.
The rockets landed close to the Lebanese border , causing some damage to a chicken coop and a gas tank. Firefighting crews were called in to cool down a propane gas tank that was struck.
Police were searching for a possible fourth rocket in the Western Galilee after residents reported hearing an explosion in the area.
The IDF said in a statement that it views the rocket attacks as a severe incident and it holds the Lebanese government and the Lebanese military responsible for preventing such actions.
The IDF Northern Command has gone on full alert and is holding continuous evaluation in light of the events, the statement added.
But here's the really interesting part, which was also just repeated on Israel Radio: The IDF doesn't think it was Hezbullah's doing.
The IDF assessment is that it is not Hezbollah, but rather al-Qaida or Palestinian terror groups who operate inside Lebanon that were behind the rocket fire, as has been the case in the past with isolated attacks.
I wouldn't let Hezbullah off so easily. There was a huge explosion yesterday at or near the Iranian nuclear plant near Isfahan. Iran is Hezbullah's patron and whether or not we had anything to do with it, Israel must be a suspect in that blast. Could the Hezbullah rockets have been a warning to us? I would not completely discount that possibility.
Oh and by the way, remember that explosion at the Hezbullah ammunition dump last week? Well, the IDF sent up a drone, and they now say that the explosion never happened.
The IDF has confirmed that their was not an explosion near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre last week, as opposed to media reports claiming that a blast had occurred.The reports had claimed that a Hezbollah weapons cache had exploded in the area, but the IDF sent a drone over the village which did not detect any indication of an explosion.
One of Hezbollah’s main lessons following its success in the 2006 war was the establishment of as many arms depots as possible in urban areas and in non-residential regions. As result of this combat doctrine, Hezbollah is attempting to rebuild its weapons depots, under the noses of UNIFIL and with the quiet backing of the Lebanese army. This is being done as part of the preparations for the Third Lebanon War.
Israel, which invests great intelligence resources in Lebanon, is seeing this and is becoming infuriated. The Israeli aircraft that hover across Lebanon record, day after day, Hezbollah’s military buildup; however, as they adhere to the ceasefire, these aircraft cannot target the arms deliveries, which mostly arrive from Syria.
Meanwhile, UNIFIL forces are failing to detect these shipments and cannot, or do not want to, operate against them in a strict fashion.
Israel, which wishes to prove its claims, published about a year ago the intelligence files of some Lebanese villages; the photos prove the scope of the weapons being stored there.
Simultaneously, in the past two years, some of these arms depots started to explode under mysterious circumstances, like a knife in Hezbollah’s heart.
Bergman is very much in the know (he broke the story that Goldwasser and Regev were dead nearly a year before the IDF was 'shocked' to get their bodies back in black boxes). Does anyone think he's not hinting that Israel is behind those explosions?
You will recall that earlier today I reported on a massive explosion in Siddiqin in southern Lebanon.
Israel Radio reported at Midnight that the Lebanese Armed Forces - who like UNIFIL are being denied access to the site of the explosion by Hezbullah - have confirmed to Lebanon's MTV television that the explosion was caused by a Hezbullah ammunition storage area.
But Naharnet - an online portal from Lebanon is telling a completely different story and blaming... guess whom....
The army command announced on Wednesday that the Siddiqin explosion that took place overnight may have been caused by a mine or cluster bomb left over from Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
It said in a statement that army units headed to the scene of the blast and conducted a wide search throughout the night and during the day on Wednesday without finding anything.
“Given these findings, the explosion was most likely caused by a mine or a cluster bomb,” it concluded.
Hizbullah meanwhile issued a statement condemning media reports that claimed that the blast took place at a party headquarter or arms depot, deeming them as “completely baseless.”
Some people will believe anything, won't they? There is no way an explosion that large is caused by 'a mine or cluster bomb left over from Israeli attacks on Lebanon.'
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
