Latest News on Israel

VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TVTuesday 08/15/2006News Summary:
The cease-fire entered into force on Monday morning
Tsahal has brought several combat units home
Life is slowly returning to normal in the north
Ehud Olmert addresses the Knesset
Ariel Sharon’s health has taken a turn for the worse
YOUR VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TV HERE

VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TVWednesday 08/16/2006News Summary:
The Israeli army is continuing its withdrawal from south Lebanon
Residents of the north are returning home, life is going back to normal
On the southern front Tsahal is continuing its operations
And Operation Smile courtesy of the ABSI Keren-Or and Guysen continues
YOUR VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TV HERE

VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TVThursday 08/17/2006News Summary:
Amir Peretz has announced the creation of a commission of inquiry to analyze Tsahal’s conduct and the handling of the war
The Lebanese government is deploying its army in south Lebanon
France is ready to participate in Unifil but "it requires that the Lebanese army is deployed first"
Gilbert Montagné was a true success yesterday evening in Raanana Park
YOUR VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TV HERE

VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TVFriday 08/18/2006News Summary:
France is reluctant to commit its troops to Lebanon
The Lebanese army has started its deployment
In Israel, it is a time for an accounting
Operation Smile continues in the north and the south
YOUR VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TV HERE


A MAD Deterrent for a Madman
By Michael D. Evans
In the twenty-first century, the players and the stakes have changed dramatically. Iran is well on its way to becoming a nuclear power, and its target is none other than what the Ayatollah Khomeini first dubbed “The Great Satan” (America), and “The Little Satan” (Israel.)
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A new 'Mini-Iran' is emerging in southern Lebanon
Lebanon's president and commander in chief of the army, Emile Lahoud, made it clear on Wednesday that Hezbollah would not be disarmed, not even in the area south of the Litani River.
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Iran's Militia Mayhem
...by funneling its oil money to Hezbollah, arming a fierce band of fanatical fighters, Iran has honed a strategy that, if seen to succeed, could replicate itself all across the Arab world.
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View of common fears drives US-Israel policy
For the first time in Israel's history, key figures in the US government believe that the same forces that threaten Israel -- Islamic terrorists and a nuclear-armed Iran -- also present the greatest strategic threat to the United States.
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For Majority of Arabs, Hezbollah Won
...behind the outpouring of support for Hezbollah in recent days, some in the Middle East are increasingly worried about the rising power of religious extremists.
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The war's surprises
Hezbollah used seven different types of rockets in the war - four of them the most advanced available and all produced by Russia and sold to Syria.
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Hizbullah encourages Palestinian terror
Palestinian terror cells operating in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in conjunction with Hizbullah are under orders by the Lebanese-based terror group to escalate their attacks against Israel.
Read More

AUDIO :: Ambassador Lubrani Talks with Bloggers: Listen now! Hours ago, One Jerusalem hosted another blogger conference call – with Israeli Ambassador Uri Lubrani.Ambassador Lubrani headed Israel’s Mission to Iran, served as Government Coordinator for Lebanese Affairs, Coordinator of the Rescue of Ethiopian Jews, chief negotiator for...(read more)
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● Are The British Waking Up?: The latest round of terrorism arrests in Britain seems to have spurred the political class into action. In the wake of the arrest of the would be airline bombers, the often illusive leader of the Tory Party has publicly accused the...(read more)
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● One Jerusalem Hosts Conference Call with Maj-General Yaakov Amidror (res): Click here for the complete audio file.Be sure to read Anne at Boker Tov Boulder, Pamela at Atlas Shrugs and Jerry at Israpundit for the complete summary....(read more)
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● Lieberman Leads Lamont: Despite losing the Democratic primary Joseph Liberman is besting his opponent (Lamont) in the General election 46-41....(read more)
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● An International Peace Force?: One Jerusalem has it on good authority that Lebanon is actively trying to recruit a Muslim dominant "peace force". Their countries of preference are Malaysia, Indonesia, and Pakistan.Two out of three have supplied centrifuges for Iran's nuclear project.For another comparison...(read more)
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● While Olmert Fantasizes Bibi Provides Leadership: One Jerusalem's eyewitness in Jerusalem just reported that in his address to the Knesset, Prime Minister Olmert declared that Israel had achieved its goals in Lebanon and he praised Foreign Minister Livni. Looking drawn and uncomfortable, Olmert sounded like a man who did...(read more)
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● Blog Censorship: The Islamic-Fascists government in Iran is moving to clamp down on blogs that oppose the regime.This comes on the day when the Iranian President started a blog and received free airtime with Mike Wallace. I'm sure Wallace thinks this is journalism. Its...(read more)
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● AUDIO :: Natan Sharansky Conference Call: Click here to listen. Yesterday, One Jerusalem hosted another newsmaker blogger conference call with our Chairman Natan sharansky. Throughout the recent war in Lebanon, Mr. Sharansky has been a vocal exponent for Israel’s need to defeat Hezbollah. As Mr. Sharansky puts...(read more)

VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TVSunday 08/20/2006News Summary:
The latest developments at the UN
Tsahal continues to withdraw from South Lebanon
Commando operation in Ba'albek
Interview with the officer of Yohan Zerbib, killed in Lebanon
Operation Smile continues
YOUR VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TV HERE

VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TVMonday 08/21/2006News Summary:
Post operation Baalbeck on Saturday. Kofi Annan condemns
Amir Peretz points to a possible resumption of fighting
The UN is having trouble mobilizing an international force
YOUR VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TV HERE

VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TVTuesday 08/22/2006News Summary:
In Israel criticism of the handling of the war is growing
The idea of relaunching negotiations with Syria is circulating in political circles
Italy is slated to head Unifil
And the weather in Israel is out of control
YOUR VIDEO NEWS ON GUYSEN TV HERE
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Ceasefire is bad for Israel - Gov´t Must Go!
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=109927
Columnist Caroline Glick & int'l legal scholar Prof. A. Bayefsky analysed the ceasefire resolution, concluding it is an "unmitigated disaster" for Israel.
*Responsibility for determining compliance is in the hands of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has "distinguished himself as a man capable only of condemning Israel…
*The resolution makes no operative call for the release of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev being held hostage by Hezbollah…
*No arms embargo against Hezbollah...
*No mention of Hezbollah-patrons Syria or Iran, thus ignoring the regional aspect of the war.
*Rewarding Hezbollah's aggression by giving international legitimacy…
*The resolution calls upon Israel to withdraw all of its forces from southern Lebanon even before Lebanese and UNIFIL forces are fully deployed...
*By handing a victory to Hezbollah, the resolution strengthens the belief of millions of supporters of jihad throughout the world that their side is winning and that they should redouble efforts to achieve their objectives of destroying Israel and running the US out of the Middle East.
"There is no mistake Ehud Olmert did not make this past month. He went to war hastily, without properly gauging the outcome."
Lebanese minister Marwan Hamadi, a Druze, accused Hassan Nasrallah Sunday night of reneging on his pledge to abide by the UN ceasefire. – Enemies of Jewish people never keep their word, particularly the Arab ones!
Almost 250 Hezbollah rockets ravaged N. Israel before the useless Cease-Fire. Over 4,000 Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel since the war began.
Two Grad-Katyusha missiles, fired by Arabs in Gaza , struck the marina in the Israeli city of Ashkelon Monday morning.
What Resolution? What Ceasefire?
Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias Murr told LBC Television, "The army is not going to the south to strip Hezbollah of weapons and do the work Israel did not." Lebanese Government will allow Hezbollah stay armed – provided weapons are hidden.
The French commander of UNIFIL, Maj.-Gen. Alain Pellegrini, said Tuesday that his peacekeeping force will not attempt to disarm Hezbollah. Dealing with Hezbollah was an internal Lebanese matter.
Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak
It is the willingness of the Jewish people and the determination of our leadership will resolve the conflict once and for all by re-gaining full control over Eretz-Israel, Land of Israel, beginning with clearing Gaza of its hostile Arab population. Everything else is just a 'feel-good' exercise!
Kidnappers Blast Israel for 'Kidnapping'. The OIC, Organization of the Islamic Conference, called the detention of Abdelaziz Dwaik a "kidnapping" and "a flagrant breach of the international law". "The crimes committed by Israel against unarmed innocent civilians in Gaza demonstrates once again the urgent need for a serious and swift action by the international community…" (The Kidnappings and rocket attacks that were initially committed by the Arab terrorists of Hamas and Hesbollah, have never bothered the OIC or the international community.)
Hezbollah Drone over Israel . The Israel Air Force shot down an unmanned Hezbollah drone over Israeli territorial waters weak ago near the Krayot suburbs north of Haifa. On Sunday, Israel shot down another two Iranian-made Hezbollah drones it suspects were laden with explosives heading toward Israel.
Peace Activist Murdered by Arab Palestinian. Angelo Frammartino, a 24 year-old Italian student, planned to set up summer camp for Palestinians. He was stabbed in the back while walking with four friends.
Hezbollah 'Accepts' UN Ceasefire. Hezbollah will abide by the U.N. cease-fire resolution but will continue fighting as long as Israeli troops remain in south Lebanon. Two Hezbollah ministers have indicated that they do not accept the demand that the group disarm in southern Lebanon. (UN resolution demonstrated a lack of interest in the genuine resolution of the conflict, utilizing duplicity, disinformation and behaving with complete stupidity!)
Peretz: It is a War, Not a Military Operation. Defense Minister Amir Peretz stated the current military situation "is a war, not a military operation." The senior minister added that if diplomatic efforts fail, the IDF will be given approval to advance far into Lebanon and take necessary measures to halt rocket attacks. (Amazing, it only took a month for him to realize the obvious! What an intellectual genius!)
Jewish Contribution to Humanity.
Ruth Handler (1916 - 2002) was an American businesswoman, the president of the toy manufacturer Mattel, Inc, and is remembered primarily for her role in marketing the Barbie doll.
US Marines Trained in Israel. This spring unit of 350 to 400 fellow Marines became one of the first to do "conscription service" with the IDF and Israeli naval commandos, studying house-to-house and counterterrorism fighting, and swapping military techniques with units he calls the "elite of the elite in Israel."
Iranians Among the Dead in Lebanon. IDF officials report that the bodies of members of Iran 's Revolutionary Guard were among the dead terrorists in southern Lebanon . Identification was confirmed by papers carried by the dead terrorists.
Forgotten War with Hamas. MK Avigdor Lieberman said the PA is preparing to wage a war on southern Israel modeled on the Hezbollah military strategy. He also expressed criticism of the media for ignoring the ongoing PA Kassam rocket attacks on the cities of the Negev. PA terrorists are "smuggling Katyushas and Grad missiles into the Gaza Strip. The southern Lebanon script must be prevented in southern Israel ." (Still, no one is considering the clearing Gaza from the enemies of Israel !) Two members of FOX's News crew have been kidnapped in Gaza City. (Busyness as usual!)
US and Europe on Terror Alert. US raises terror alert to orange, Belgium and Germany cancel flights to UK , after Britain foils a major terror plot to blow up 10 UK planes bound for the United States . (Welcome to a new ugly reality: Philippines , Thailand , India , Israel , Africa , Europe and Americas have been under Islamic attack for many years, but they still do not know what to do. They are still playing games!)
Hezbollah man in Israeli hospital. A wounded Hezbollah gunman was taken Haifa 's Rambam Hospital under guard on Sunday after Israeli troops discovered him in the aftermath of weekend clashes in south-western Lebanon .
Quote of the Week:
"Small minds discuss people. Average minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas." – Unknown.
Parade of Self-Hate. Police in Jerusalem said they would bar a gay protest at a city park. But organizers of Thursday evening's event near Liberty Bell Park said they would go ahead with the demonstration. (In the time of national danger, Jewish self-haters organized self-promotional demonstration. They never cared about Jewish national unity. The self-hate is and always has been the main motivation!)
Gaza girl 'not killed by strike'. A three-year-old girl who had been reported killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza last week actually died of an accident. (Another Arab PR 'production'!)
Russian Weapons in Lebanon . Hezbollah is using sophisticated Russian-made anti-tank missiles RPG-29, which were sold to Syria by Russia . It was promised that Russian arms would not fall into the hands of Hezbollah. (This is the Russian way of fighting global Islamic terrorism!)
Another Indiscriminate Killing. A 5-year-old toddler and his mother were killed Thursday morning by one of 165 rockets were fired at Israel by Hezbollah in the Israeli Arab village of Dir Al-Assad in the Western Galilee. (Still there is no UN condemnation of Hezbollah for killing innocent civilians, even non-Jewish ones!)
97% of PA Arabs Support Hezbollah. Among Christian Arabs in the PA, 95% said they support Hezbollah. Over 90% said the kidnapped Israeli soldiers should not be freed unconditionally, while 6% said they should never be returned. 55% of those polled said they identify with Hezbollah's goal of destroying Israel. (Christians or Muslims, most Arabs are enemies of the state of Israel . Time has come to realize it and let them join their brothers and sisters in Lebanon , Egypt , Syria , Iraq and Saudi Arabia !)
Tourist Stabbed in Jerusalem. A tourist from Europe was stabbed to death Thursday in Jerusalem 's Old City by a young Arab attacker. Israeli security forces thwarted a planned suicide bombing in the West Bank by two Arab women. (Under the cloud of the war, the 'terror business' in Israel is still business as usual!)
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Resolution is a Shambles.
http://www.debka.com/
Le Monde: France may send no more than 200 troops as a "symbolic" contribution to the multinational force. Italian soldiers will not be expected to disarm Hezbollah, said Italy's foreign minister Massimo D'Alema. Lebanese government has made a deal with Hezbollah:
1. The Lebanese army, which hopes to muster 7,500 men, will move into Hezbollah's former positions along the Lebanese border with Israel.
2. Hezbollah's fighting force including its rocket and missile launchers will be concentrated in 50 of the 180 villages and towns of South Lebanon, which will be closed to Lebanese troops.
3. The Lebanese army will help Hezbollah gather all its weapons and rockets scattered across the south and transfer them to these Hezbollah controlled strongholds.
4. Hezbollah fighters will not wear uniform or display their weapons in public.
5. A Hezbollah presence will be permitted in all parts of South Lebanon not occupied by Lebanese troops. This includes its reoccupation of the small towns just behind the border like Maroun a Ras and Ayt a-Chaab, the sites of fierce Israeli-Hezbollah battles.
6. Lebanese units will deploy at all the official border crossings into Syria, but not at the dozens of unauthorized crossing points, which will remain under Hezbollah control.
Violation of the resolution. Many countries which volunteered to contribute their troops to Lebanon do not recognize Israel's existence. They include Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh. Most of the participants refuse to take part in disarming Hezbollah. France is sending only 400 solders. (By refusing to disarm Hesbollah, UN participants are being in violation of the resolution. UN resolution 1701 and its implementation is another worthless product of the 'Useless Nothing'!)
Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak
Politically Correct Warfare: USA - Al Qaida is still active, Osama bin Laden is still alive, coalition is stuck in Iraq; Israel - The Hesbollah is still active, sheikh Nasrallah is still alive, the ceasefire is not effective and our kidnapped solders are not freed. What a shameful performance!
Syrian has an Option. Syrian president Bashar Assad: "They said peace was the only way but now, after seeing how Hizballah fought, I see an option. Syrian hands will liberate Golan." The Syrian ruler threatened not only Israel but also the government in Beirut. (When gutless and indecisive politicians are in charge, new wars are planned by encouraged, opportunistic rulers!)
Time for Accountability. Demonstrators protested "the defeat in the war in Lebanon" on Thursday evening and called for political leaders responsible for the management of the operations to step down. The demonstrators who crowded Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, held up signs that read, "Defeatists Go Home", "Olmert is a National Disaster".
Our Enemy Jubilant. Arabs and Muslims from Iran, Hizbullah and the PA are celebrating Israel's acceptance of the UN ceasefire, dubbing Israel's "surrender" and calling on Arab states to attack the new "weak" Israel.
Is it all for Nothing Again? Israeli forces swept up to Lebanon's Litani River , losing at least 24 soldiers in fierce battles at Hezbollah strongholds. Massive reinforcements of tanks and troops were sent into southern Lebanon over the weekend in an 11th-hour push before a U.N.-brokered cease-fire came into effect. (Will Israel repeat mistakes of the last Lebanese war? We stayed there for too long, lost too many of our soldiers and did not obtain an international guaranty for the security of the Northern border!)
Another Intifada on Horizon. A Hamas newspaper columnist declared that the Palestinian Authority must leverage what he considers a Hezbollah victory for a renewed terrorist campaign against Israel, a "third intifada."
Useless Nothing at it best again. The United Nations´ new Human Rights Council voted by a large majority to reproach Israel for its actions in Lebanon. The resolution Friday, which condemned Israel for "massive violations of human rights," passed 27 to 11, while eight abstained. (New Council - Old style of anti-Israel bias!)
Jewish Contribution to Humanity.
Charles Ginsburg (1920 - 1992) lead a research team at Ampex Corporation which developed one of the first practical videotape recorders. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1990.
Sylvan Nathan Goldman (1898 - 1984) was a businessman and inventor of the first shopping cart. He introduced the device on June 4, 1937, in the Piggly-Wiggly supermarket chain in Oklahoma City.
Record Immigration to Israel. Over 4,000 new immigrants from all over the world will have arrived in Israel from the beginning of July until the end of August in spite of crisis. (It would be good news if not for the uncontrollable global rise of anti-Semitism.)
Deflecting the Public Anger. Lieutenant General Halutz has been under attack from politicians across the political spectrum for ordering his financial adviser to sell all his stocks, worth about $US27000, three hours after the first Hezbollah cross-border raid. (Israeli political mafia is trying to deflect the attention for a failed war, which is, in fact, due to political interference and a lack of vision. The general exercised common sense - politicians have found the scapegoat!)
Yesha Withdrawal - Not for Now. PM Olmert told Kadima party colleagues this week he realizes that his unilateral withdrawal plan from the West Bank is irrelevant for now. Several Kadima members have been opposing Olmert's plan. (Just for Now! Olmert and Jewish leadership are unable to recognise that enemies of the Jewish people have only one plan - Destruction of Israel!)
Arab Debating Style. In Jenin, the West Bank, two Arab Palestinian families went after each other with knives and clubs at a wedding after one guest cursed the leader of Hezbollah. Seven people were seriously wounded.
Quote of the Week:
"I believe that forgiving Hezbollah is God's function. The Israelis job is to arrange the meeting." - General Norman Schwartzkopf.
Hollywood Against Hezbollah and Hamas . 85 high-profile Hollywood stars, directors, studio bosses and media moguls have taken out a powerfully-worded full page advertisement in Los Angeles Times newspaper. "We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas," the ad reads. "If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die." "We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs." (Wow! Even they start to differentiate between the ugliness of reality and fake political correctness.)
Dog bomb. Iraq's Jihadi Factions said it attacked U.S. forces near Baghdad by setting off explosives attached to a dog. Dead dogs stuffed with explosives have been used against U.S. troops in Iraq before. (Why are the animal lovers silent?)
Lebanese general arrested for drinking tea with IDF. A Lebanese general, Adnan Daoud, was arrested last Wednesday for drinking tea with IDF soldiers in south Lebanon barracks. Daoud is commanding officer of the 1,000-strong joint police-army force that had positions in southern Lebanon.
Israeli civilians Snubbed by Media. CNN and many other International media outlets, including SBS in Australia, when reporting on Israel and Lebanon have unveiled the full extent of bias at work behind the global news coverage of the last war in Lebanon. Negligible attention is paid to Israeli civilians, while long, rhetorical and highly inflated reports featuring images and interviews of Lebanese civilians followed. The large number of Israelis who have become displaced from their homes in the north was hardly mentioned.
Anti-Zionist Rabbi.
by Dudi Coen.
In an interview with official Iranian news agency IRNA, Rabbi David Weiss, of the Neturei Karta movement, said "Israel was established in the name of Judaism but is impure and Godless. We are sure that it will cease to exist." Neturei Karta is a small group of Ultra-Orthodox Jews who reject all forms of Zionism and oppose the existence of that state of Israel. This stems from their belief that Israel can only truly be re-established with the coming of the Messiah and, subsequently, that any state of Israel prior to this exists in violation of divine will. (This is another side of Jewish self-hate, Gullut mentality or just simple craziness!)
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A kiss before dying
Saddam Hussein's lawyer's last minutes captured on a mobile. more
- Confusion surrounds air crash tragedy- UK terror plot suspects revealed
Plot prompts terror review
TERROR suspects could be held for longer periods without charge in the wake of a governmental review of Australia's latest counter-terrorism measures.
Marjayun: Israel pulls back in Lebanon
Anguish at voices from past
9/11 families listen to heartrending calls and demand action. more
- Lebanese army takes control of south- US rushes aid plan to counter Hezbollah support
Our troops too busy for Lebanon
Australia has told the UN it is unlikely to send troops to help monitor the Lebanon ceasefire. more

Raid shatters Lebanon truce
05:50am: THE Lebanese government has called an Israeli commando raid deep inside Southern Lebanon a "naked violation" of the terms of the ceasefire agreement brokered by the UN.

Hamburg: Train station reopens after threat
Khartoum: Soldiers killed in Darfur ambush
Drama: Plane forced back, 12 arrested
Video shows kidnapped journos
TWO journalists kidnapped in the Gaza Strip said they were in "fairly good health" and appealed for help to secure their freedom, a videotape released showed.
London: Child dumped in airport bin died of natural causes
Investigation: Israeli President quizzed on sex allegations
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Iran's Grand Plan
As Israeli troops moved into southern Lebanon, they began coming to the realization that the infrastructure of bunkers, launching sites, and missiles that Hezbollah built up is even more elaborate and sophisticated than Israel had expected. All of it was done through the financial support, bidding and training from Iran. Israel is now estimating that Iran has spent billions of dollars to create this network.
Why? The answer is clear and speaks to why Israel's chief of staff Dan Halutz has described this battle as possibly Israel's most crucial since the War of Independence. Iran is generating a three-pronged threat to Israel's very existence. By developing a nuclear weapon, by arming Hezbollah to the teeth, and by public statements of its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran is trying to recreate the idea that Israel's existence as a Jewish state is not a sure thing, that the notion that Israel is now a permanent entity, if not a beloved one, which had taken hold in the Middle East in recent years, is not true.
Israel, the United States, and indeed the entire civilized world must understand the nature of this threat now and must not equivocate in combating all three dimensions of this sinister Iranian strategy.
Undoubtedly, the huge infrastructure that Iran has built up with Hezbollah in south Lebanon would have been expanded in the coming years in parallel with Iran's nuclear development so that the time would arrive when Iran could threaten Israel from Teheran with a nuclear bomb and from Lebanon with chemically-tipped missiles.
Indeed, it wasn't the extremist Ahmadinejad who expressed Iranian intentions most clearly but the more "moderate" Iranian leader Rafsanjani who several years ago chillingly said with regard to the nuclear issue that Israel is a tiny country and one nuclear bomb would devastate the country while Iran was a large country that could sustain ten such bombs.
This is what Israel's war against Hezbollah is about. It is to begin to reverse Iran's implementation of its plan for Israel's destruction. Of course, it is not Israel's problem alone because Iran's aspirations threaten the Gulf states, ensure nuclear proliferation throughout the region, and menace the west through terrorism and the spread of Islamic extremism.
The west should be fully supporting Israel, as has the United States, in this struggle for its own interests. At the very least, the world must understand that Israel will defend itself and do everything in its power to destroy Hezbollah and combat the Iranian threat. It has no choice.
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Reading Between the Lines of the Cease Fire
Implementation! Implementation! Implementation! That's the name of the game regarding UN Resolution 1701, passed by the Security Council on Friday and approved near-unanimously by Israel's cabinet.
While Israel did not achieve the kind of dramatic victory of the Six Day War, the crossing of the Suez Canal in 1973 or the ousting of Arafat from Lebanon in 1982, the potentially changed dynamic in south Lebanon is a substantial achievement, if implemented.
There's room for criticism of the resolution and of the outcome of the conflict to this point:
It doesn't provide an explicit mechanism for the return of Israel's kidnapped soldiers
No mechanism for the dismantling of Hezbollah.
Nasrallah is standing
Rockets were still hitting Israeli cities
Still, Israel got a lot of what it was seeking in the UN resolution.
It blames the conflict on Hezbollah
It provides for a beefed up international force with authority to prevent the introduction of hostile forces into the area the force will control between Israel's Northern border and the Litani river
Hezbollah, unlike before July 12, will not be in control in southern Lebanon where it had a state within a state The international force and the Lebanese army will be authorized to prevent Hezbollah's reentry with arms into the south
Israel doesn't have to redeploy until the international force and the Lebanese army begin the process of taking over Southern Lebanon
The force will be authorized to prevent the reintroduction of arms to Hezbolah (from Iran and Syria)
Israel has a right to defend itself if Hezbollah breaks the cease-fire
The resolution happened because Israel caused significant damage to Hezbollah, because the US supported Israel despite some bumps along the way, because the Lebanese government, irrespective of its strong condemnation of Israel, recognized the damage to the country caused by Hezbollah's aggression, and because the international community was forced to act out of fear of what Israel would do in order to defend itself and its citizens. Indeed, the very complaints about what Israel was doing to Lebanon's infrastructure, though exaggerated, serve Israel's deterrence capacity by convincing both Israel's enemies such as Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, as well as the international community such as the EU, that Israel will do whatever it takes to ensure its security.
The key now is whether Israel's significant gains on paper will be translated into facts on the ground. While there is justified historic suspicion about the role of UNIFIL and the Lebanese army, their fear of even greater destruction may concentrate their minds. If so, then the balance in the region will have shifted in the favor of Israel, the moderate Arab states, and the US against Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. This despite the rhetoric being bandied about of a Hezbollah victory and a gain for the radicals. If it is not seriously implemented, the extremists will be emboldened and more war, more serious war will undoubtedly loom in the future.
Our task is not to badmouth the resolution nor to join in the counterproductive and misguided criticism of Israel that is coming from some quarters of the Jewish community. Our focus must be on Israel's very real gains, the need for responsible implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 and for the right of Israel to defend itself in the strongest way should Hezbollah, Syria and Iran violate the terms of the resolution.
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The abdication of Lebanese leaders.
The politicians, journalists and intellectuals of Lebanon have, of late, been experiencing the shock of their lives. They knew full well that Hezbollah had created an independent state in our country, a state including all the ministers and parallel institutions, duplicating those of Lebanon. What they did not know - and are discovering with this war, and what has petrified them with surprise and terror -- is the extent of this phagocytosis.
In fact, our country had become an extension of Iran, and our so-called political power also served as a political and military cover for the Islamists of Teheran. We suddenly discovered that Teheran had stocked more than 12,000 missiles, of all types and calibers, on our territory and that they had patiently, systematically, organized a suppletive force, with the help of the Syrians, that took over, day after day, all the rooms in the House of Lebanon. Just imagine it: we stock ground-to-ground missiles, Zilzals, on our territory and that the firing of such devices without our knowledge, has the power to spark a regional strategic conflict and, potentially, bring about the annihilation of Lebanon.
We knew that Iran, by means of Hezbollah, was building a veritable Maginot line in the south but it was the pictures of Maroun el-Ras and Bint J'bail that revealed to us the magnitude of these constructions. This amplitude made us understand several things at once: that we were no longer masters of our destiny. That we do not possess the most basic means necessary to reverse the course of this state of things and that those who turned our country into an outpost of their islamic doctrine's combat against Israel did not have the slightest intention of willingly giving up their hold over us.
The national salvation discussions that concerned the application of Resolution 1559 and which included most of the Lebanese political movements were simply for show. Iran and Syria had not invested billions of dollars on militarizing Lebanon in order to wage their war, simply to give in to the desire of the Lebanese and the international community for them to pack up their hardware and set it up back home.
And then, the indecision, the cowardice, the division and the irresponsible behavior of our leaders are such that they had no effort to make to show their talent. No need to engage a wrestling match with the other political components of the Land of Cedars. The latter showed themselves - and continue to show themselves - to be inconsistent.
Of course, our army, reshaped over the years by the Syrian occupier so it could no longer fulfill its role as protector of the nation, did not have the capacity to tackle the militamen of the Hezb [hezb-Allah : the party of Allah. Translator's note]. Our army whom it is more dangerous to call upon -- because of the explosive equilibrium that constitutes each of its brigades -- than to shut up behind locked doors in its barracks. A force that is still largely loyal to its former foreign masters, to the point of being uncontrollable; to the point of having collaborated with the Iranians to put OUR coastal radar stations at the disposal of their missiles, that almost sunk an Israeli boat off the shores of Beirut. As for the non-Hezbollah elements in the government, they knew nothing of the existence of land-to-sea missiles on our territory that caused the totally justified destruction of all OUR radar stations by the Hebrews' army. And even then we are getting off lightly in these goings-on.
It is easy now to whine and gripe, and to play the hypocritical role of victims. We know full well how to get others to pity us and to claim that we are never responsible for the horrors that regularly occur on our soil. Of course, that is nothing but rubbish! The Security Council's Resolution 1559 -- that demanded that OUR government deploy OUR army on OUR sovereign territory, along OUR international border with Israel and that it disarm all the militia on OUR land -- was voted on 2 September 2004.
We had two years to put implement this resolution and thus guarantee a peaceful future to our children but we did strictly nothing. Our greatest crime -- which was not the only one! -- was not that we did not succeed but that we did not attempt or undertake anything. And that was the fault of none else than the pathetic Lebanese politicians.
Our government, from the very moment the Syrian occupier left, let ships and truckloads of arms pour into our country. Without even bothering to look at their cargo. They jeopardized all chances for the rebirth of our country by confusing the Cedar Revolution with the liberation of Beirut. In reality, we had just received the chance - a sort of unhoped-for moratorium - that allowed us to take the future into our own hands, nothing more.
To think that we were not even capable of agreeing to "hang" Amile Lahoud -- Al-Assad's puppet -- on Martyrs' Square and that he is still president of what some insist on calling our republic. There is no need to look any further: we are what we are, that is to say, not much.
All those who assume public and communicational responsibilities in this country are responsible for this catastrophe. Except those of my colleagues, journalists and editors, who are dead, assassinated by the Syrian thugs, because they were clearly less cowardly than those who survived. And Lahoud remained at Baadba [the president of the Lebanese Republic's palace. Editor's note]!
And when I speak of a catastrophe, I do not mean the action accomplished by Israel in response to the aggression against its civilians and its army, which was produced from our soil and that we did strictly nothing to avoid, and for which we are consequently responsible. Any avoiding of this responsibility -- some people here do not have the minimal notions of international law necessary to understand! -- means that Lebanon, as a state, does not exist.
The hypocrisy goes on: even some editorialists of the respectable L'Orient-le-Jour put Hezbollah's savagery and that of the Israelis on a par! Shame! Spinelessness! And who are we in this fable? Poor victims of the ambitions of others?
Politicians either support this insane idea or keep silent. Those we would expect to speak, to save our image, remain silent like the others. And I am precisely alluding to general Aoun, who could have made a move by proclaiming the truth. Even his enemy, Walid Jumblatt, the Druse leader, has proved to be less vague.
Lebanon a victim? What a joke!
Before the Israeli attack, Lebanon no longer existed, it was no more than a hologram. At Beirut innocent citizens like myself were forbidden access to certain areas of their own capital. But our police, our army and our judges were also excluded. That was the case, for example, of Hezbollah's and the Syrians' command zone in the Haret Hreik quarter. A square measuring a kilometer wide, a capital within the capital, permanently guarded by a Horla army, possessing its own institutions, its schools, its tribunals, its radio, its television and, above all its government. A "government" that, alone decided, in the place of the figureheads of the Lebanese government - in which Hezbollah also had its ministers! - to attack a neighboring state, with which we had no substantial or grounded quarrel, and to plunge US into a bloody conflict. And if attacking a sovereign nation on its territory, assassinating eight of its soldiers, kidnapping two others and, simultaneously, launching missiles on nine of its towns does not constitute a casus belli, the latter juridical principle will seriously need revising.
Thus almost all of these cowardly politicians, including numerous shiah leaders and religious personalities themselves, are blessing each bomb that falls from a Jewish F-16 turning the insult to our sovereignty that was Haret Hreik, right in the heart of Beirut, into a lunar landscape. Without the Israelis, how could we have received another chance -- that we in no way deserve! -- to rebuild our country?
Each Irano-Syrian fort that Jerusalem destroys, each Islamic fighter they eliminate, and Lebanon proportionally starts to live again! Once again, the soldiers of Israel are doing our work. Once again, like in 1982, we are watching -- cowardly, lying low, despicable, and insulting them to boot -- their heroic sacrifice that allows us to keep hoping. To not be swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Because, of course, by dint of not giving a damn for southern Lebanon, of letting foreigners take hold of the privileges that belong to us, we no longer had the ability to recover our independence and sovereignty. If, at the end of this war, the Lebanese army retakes control over its territory and gets rid of the state within a state - that tried to suffocate the latter -, it will only be thanks to Tsahal [the Israeli Defense Forces. Translator's note], and that, all these faint-hearted politicians, from the crook Fouad Siniora, to Saad Hariri, the son of Lebanon's plunderer, and general Aoun all know perfectly well.
As for the destruction caused by the Israelis -- that is another imposture... the parts of my capital that have been destroyed by Israel. They are Haret Hreik - in its totality - and the dwellings of Hezbollah's leaders, situated in the large Shi'a suburb of Dayaa (as they spell it).
In addition to these two zones, Tsahal has exploded a nine-storied building that housed Hezbollah's command, in Beirut's city center. It was Nasrallah's "perch" inside the city, whereby he asserted his presence and domination over us. A depot of Syrian arms in the port, two army radars that the Shiite officers had put at the Hezb's disposal, and a truck suspected of transporting arms, in the Christian quarter of Ashrafieh.
Moreover the road and airport infrastructures were put out of working order: they served to provide Hezbollah with arms and munitions. Apart from that, Tsahal has neither hit nor deteriorated anything, and all those who speak of the "destruction of Beirut" are either liars, Iranians, anti-Semites or absent. Even the houses situated one alley's distance from the targets I mentioned have not been hit, they have not even suffered a scratch; on contemplating these results of this work you understand the meaning of the concept "surgical strikes" and you can admire the dexterity of the Jewish pilots.
Beirut, all the rest of Beirut, 95% of Beirut, lives and breathes better than a fortnight ago. All those who have not sided with terrorism know they have strictly nothing to fear from the Israeli planes, on the contrary! One example: last night the restaurant where I went to eat was jammed full and I had to wait until 9:30 pm to get a table. Everyone was smiling, relaxed, but no one filmed them: a strange destruction of Beirut, is it not?
Of course, there are some 500,000 refugees from the south who are experiencing a veritable tragedy and who are not smiling. But Jean [Tsadik. Editor's note], who has his eyes fixed on Kfar Kileh, and from whom I have learned to believe each word he says, assures me that practically all the houses of the aforesaid refugees are intact. So they will be able to come back as soon as Hezbollah is vanquished.
The defeat of the Shi'a fundamentalists of Iranian allegiance is imminent. The figures communicated by Nasrallah's minions and by the Lebanese Red-Cross are deceiving: firstly, of the 400 dead declared by Lebanon, only 150 are real collateral civilian victims of the war, the others were militiamen without uniform serving Iran. The photographic report "Les Civils des bilans libanais" made by Stéphane Juffa for our agency constitutes, to this day, the unique tangible evidence of this gigantic morbid manipulation. Which makes this document eminently important.
Moreover, Hassan Nasrallah's organization has not lost 200 combatants, as Tsahal claims. This figure only concerns the combats taking place on the border and even then the Israelis underestimate it, for a reason that escapes me, by about a hundred militiamen eliminated. The real count of Hezbollah's casualties, that includes those dead in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, Baalbek and their other camps, rocket and missile launchers and arms and munition depots amounts to 1,100 supplementary Hezbollah militiamen who have definitively ceased to terrorize and humiliate my country.
Like the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, I pray that no one puts an end to the Israeli attack before it finishes shattering the terrorists. I pray that the Hebrew soldiers will penetrate all the hidden recesses of southern Lebanon and will hunt out, in our stead, the vermin that has taken root there. Like the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, I have put the champagne ready in the refrigerator to celebrate the Israeli victory.
But contrary to them - and to paraphrase Michel Sardou [a French singer. Translator's note] -, I recognize that they are also fighting for our liberty, another battle "where you were not present"! And in the name of my people, I wish to express my infinite gratitude to the relatives of the Israeli victims - civilian and military - whose loved ones have fallen so that I can live standing upright in my identity. They should know that I weep with them.
As for the pathetic clique that thrives at the head of my country, it is time for them to understand that after this war, after our natural allies have rid us of those who are hindering us from rebuilding a nation, a cease-fire or an armistice will not suffice. To ensure the future of Lebanon, it is time to make peace with those we have no reason to go to war against. In fact, only peace will ensure peace. Someone must tell them because in this country we have not learnt what a truism is.
This article is from the New Republic, and is translated from the French.
This article can also be read at: http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/middleeast/State_of_Denial.asp