Friday, August 8, 2008
As it should be. Either Lebanon is sovereign and responsible for its territory, or it's just a region composed of various groups, each responsible for its own. The exact nature of the response is a political one, but there is no question about the legal or moral dimensions:
Israel will hold Lebanon responsible for any attacks against Israel, in particular for any Hezbollah efforts to avenge the death of its military leader Imad Mughniyeh. This decision on Wednesday by the security cabinet represents a change in Israeli policy, after always firmly separating Hezbollah and the Lebanese government.
According to defense establishment recommendations adopted by the security cabinet, Israel will treat the Lebanese unity government, which is headed by Fouad Siniora and includes Hezbollah, as responsible for any event that takes place in its sovereign territory or events for which Lebanese nationals are responsible.
A senior Jerusalem source said if Hezbollah attacks Israel from inside Lebanese territory, shoots at Israel Air Force aircraft or carries out a terror attack abroad as revenge for the Mughniyeh assassination (which it attributes to Israel), then Israel will hold Lebanon responsible and respond appropriately. In the coming weeks, Israel plans to start transmitting this message to the United Nations, United States, Russia and European nations, and primarily to Syria and Hezbollah itself...
...Defense officials noted in the cabinet meeting that two developments supported a change in policy. The first is the fact Hezbollah is now a partner in a Lebanese unity government and holds veto rights. The second is that the guidelines of the new Lebanese government guidelines, approved by President Michel Suleiman, allow Hezbollah to continue its military activity against Israel...
This has been coming for a while. The Lebanese gov't cut a deal with Hezbollah, in apparent response to which Israel began to make a separate peace with Syria, and so on. Lebanese sovereignty is strictly nominal and can't be factored meaningfully into regional strategic decisions.
Note that this is true for all players: Israel, Syria, Iran, Turkey, and Hezbollah. All have adjusted to the current reality. The UN could have prevented this, but they can't ultimately be held responsible for failing to save a country that refused to save itself.
So this just says out loud what has already been obvious for months.
Just like the Israeli government should be held responsible for releasing murders and criminals to Lebanon so they can kill more Jews. But I digress - apologies.
I think that Israel should recognize the formal annexation of Lebanon by Syria. In that way, Syria's terrirtorial ambitions would be satisfied (temporarily), while Israel could get some quiet on its border (like it has on the Syrian border). If Hezbollah acts up, Israel can retaliate directly against Syria
#1 adam d.:
Sorry, but that analysis hinges on a classic case of the post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy (falsely inferred causality from temporal sequencing of events).First, negotiations with Syria have been going on in one form or another for a long time and reached a crescendo about ten years ago, where as now, it seemed that Israel would soon make the extremely dangerous and foolishly catastrophic mistake of ceding its sovereign territory -- the Golan Heights were annexed, in 1981, seventeen years after the 1974 Syrian-Isreali Disengagement Agreement.
What's motivating today's scary business is Olmert's ulterior motives. As Caroline Glick points out, it's either because of a desire to selfishly extend his term in office or to force his successor's hands so that he'll be remembered for something other than having to resign in disgrace. to save his legacy. Either way, he'd be shamefully putting his own putrid interests ahead of Israel's with this foolhardy move.
Gamla must not fall again.
I wish olmerde would step down ASAP. His leftist family has brainwashed him to the point where he is willing to agree to any demand by the islamofascists.
That what Israel won with blood sweat and tears can be lost with a pen is sickening.
I always thought te Belfour Declaration was written in pen. Maybe what's won by the pen can be lost by the pen.