That’s the gist of a Los Angeles Times editorial.
Appeasement hasn’t worked:
Israel is tired of being urged to exercise restraint when it responds to an attack. In recent years, the Jewish state has made significant concessions — uprooting settlers in Gaza, accepting the once-anathema idea of a Palestinian state — only to see Palestinians elect a government dominated by the rejectionist Hamas movement. The kidnapping of Israeli soldiers on Israeli soil first by allies of Hamas, then by Hezbollah, adds insult to injury.
But caution still makes sense:
The Israelis have every right to pursue into Lebanon the Hezbollah operatives who crossed into Israel to abduct the two soldiers. But to hold the entire state of Lebanon responsible — and to exact retaliation by striking at infrastructure that serves innocent civilians — is disproportionate.
Not explained in the editorial is how the Hezbollah threat will be eliminated if the Lebanese government doesn’t take control of its borders and civilians aren’t penalized for not demanding that their government cease its implicit approval of Hezbollah. In this instance, restraint and appeasement are synonymous.
Dennis Ross on Fox News yesterday said a couple of interesting things:
1. For years it was alleged that the basis for violence against Israel was the occupation of Gaza and Lebanaon. Israel pulled out of both places and the violence against the country by the likes of Hamas and Hezbollah never stopped.
2. The recent increased violence led to Israeli reoccupation of those two countries – and it almost looks as though Hamas and Hezbollah like it better that way – they don’t have to drive as far to attack Israelis.
It preplexed me why Iran would set Hezbollah down a course of action that could result in its destruction. but I wasn’t looking at it in the assymetrical logic that prevails in the Middle East.
If Hezbollah survives the onslaught, it’s a victory for the anti-Israeli cause. After all, the 1991 Gulf War was a victory for Saddam by virtue of his ability to stay in power. By the same token, if Hezbollah is destroyed, Iran will play on Muslim sense of victimhood and proclaim its nuclear weapons program as a justified way of redressing this military imbalance. Israel just can’t win.
The Latest On The Israeli Front
While the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hizbollah continue to wage war against Israel, there appears to be some added tension to their relationships with the countries they are based in. Take a look at the Iranian backed Hizbollah for instan…
The more pertinent question isn’t “appeasement” but whether the Israeli operation is strategically sensible. I have very strong doubts about the wisdom of the operation, for reasons I articulated in a “video blog” experiment (enh…) and for reasons that George Djerian is doing a very good job of explaining.