Don’t know how long ago this went up on the MFA site, but it just got distributed over email. Money grafs:
This action, along with the events of the past month, creates a new and complex reality that compels us to deal with it. Today’s attack, like the 25 June 2006 attack at Kerem Shalom, is the product of those who perpetrate terrorism and those who give it shelter. Israel views the sovereign Lebanese Government as responsible for the action that originated on its soil and for the return of the abducted soldiers to Israel. Israel demands that the Lebanese Government implement UN Security Council Resolution #1559 (http://tinyurl.com/dlejl).
However, there is no doubt that Hizbullah, a terrorist organization operating inside Lebanon, initiated and perpetrated today’s action; Israel will act against it in a manner required by its actions… Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: “Due to the sensitivity of the issue, I ask that the Cabinet approve the recommendations that have been submitted by the security establishment and authorize myself, Defense Minister Peretz, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Vice Premier Shimon Peres, Industry, Trade and Employment Minister Eli Yishai, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter to approve the detailed actions that have been presented by the security establishment.”
Other than the fact that the MFA is embedding tinyurl links into official communiques of staggering historical import, 2 other things seem worth mentioning.
First, and this might be news only to us, but we didn’t realize until now just how irrelevent Peretz’s job as Defense Minister really is. It was quite public at the time that Olmert made Peretz Defense Minister only because the other alternative – letting the Commie run the Finance Ministry – was certain economic suicide. But the move also seemed to have the benefit of effectively rendering Peretz meaningless, since the IDF brass was unlikely to be influenced in their deliberations by a guy who knows nothing about anything military. Now on top of that, this is the first time we’ve actually noticed the composition of the Security cabinet – the body that will be making many of the day to day decisions in the upcoming war: five Kadima members, the leader of Shas, and Peretz.
Second: we still have no idea whether the Israeli government is threatening Syria or not. We started the morning quite convinced that Olmert was a couple of hours away from bombing Syrian military installations. Then late in the morning IDF brass emphasized that Syria was off the hook this time. But now there’s this weird language from the Communique about how Israel recognizes that Hezbollah is more than just Lebanon and will act accordingly. In the end, it’s probably all moot anyway because Syria can’t not get involved.
