Hezbollah Becomes the Latest Arab Militia to Commit An Act of War Against Israel
In the last month, Israel has been attacked from the south and the north. Civilians as well as soldiers have been targeted, and the perpetrators have ranged from ragtag terrorists to well-trained militias. This morning brought the latest open act of aggression against the Jewish State, as the Iranian and Syrian supported Hezbollah militia launched an attack on Israeli positions and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.
We eagerly anticipate the UN condemnation of this naked act of war, and are quite sure that all civilized nations will affirm in no uncertain terms the right of any nation-state to defend itself militarily - even the Jewish State.
Actually, that’s a bit of a fib. It’s not even snark any more: just a sad recognition that exactly the opposite will happen. Hezbollah was emboldened precisely because they saw how the world scrambled to make excuses for Hamas when Hamas did the very same thing a few weeks ago. These thugs are fanatics, but they're not stupid. Israel, too, is beginning to understand that international diplomacy is worse than a shell game: it's a no-lose proposition for its enemies, tying Israel's hands with negotiations that are always anticipated and ongoing. Instead of negotiating, Israel has sent its military into Lebanon to search for the two boys:
The Defense Ministry confirmed early Wednesday afternoon that two soldiers had been kidnapped by Hizbullah after an attack. IDF ground troops had been sent into Lebanon to search for the two. IAF jets, helicopters and UAVs were also flying above Lebanon searching for the soldiers. Hizbullah's Al Manar TV broadcast earlier Wednesday that the organization had kidnapped the two soldiers. A senior Hizbullah official said that at least one of the allegedly kidnapped soldiers was still alive.
Not that it matters, but Hezbollah had more or less agreed not to engage in these acts after Sharon negotiated the last prisoner swap. Of course, they also more or less admitted at the time that they were lying about that. Which makes them, if nothing else, a good deal more honest than many of Israel's other enemies.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
UPDATE: We usually don't cross-post the intro blurbs that we put at the top of IsraPundit stories, but this one made a claim that we believe will probably be borne out in the coming days and weeks:
In the coming days, it will be interesting to see how international diplomats and journalists claw for a “fair and balanced” middle ground that lays equal responsibility at the feet of Hezbollah - which just committed an act of war - and Israel - which was just the victim of an act of war. And by “interesting” we mean “predictable”. Make no mistake: there is a straight line starting with much of the world’s determination to recognize Hamas’s kidnappings and rocket attacks as legitimate and going straight to - unsurprisingly - Hezbollah’s kidnappings and rocket attacks. If we had to guess, the pretext will be the claim that the Sheba Farms are occupied Lebanese land: a claim that even the UN has rejected as a laughable pretext, but that many will find to be suddenly very reasonable in the coming weeks. Not that it has to be the Sheba Farms - if history teaches us anything, it’s that even the thinnest excuse will convince most people to play along as if the real motive for Hezbollah’s continuing attacks against Jews was mysterious and inscrutable. We used to think it has something to do with their fanatical anti-Semitism, but then University professors told us that accusations of anti-Semitism were just meant to stifle “legitimate criticism of the Zionist regime”. So now we’re back to square one.
We eagerly anticipate the UN condemnation of this naked act of war, and are quite sure that all civilized nations will affirm in no uncertain terms the right of any nation-state to defend itself militarily - even the Jewish State.
Actually, that’s a bit of a fib. It’s not even snark any more: just a sad recognition that exactly the opposite will happen. Hezbollah was emboldened precisely because they saw how the world scrambled to make excuses for Hamas when Hamas did the very same thing a few weeks ago. These thugs are fanatics, but they're not stupid. Israel, too, is beginning to understand that international diplomacy is worse than a shell game: it's a no-lose proposition for its enemies, tying Israel's hands with negotiations that are always anticipated and ongoing. Instead of negotiating, Israel has sent its military into Lebanon to search for the two boys:
The Defense Ministry confirmed early Wednesday afternoon that two soldiers had been kidnapped by Hizbullah after an attack. IDF ground troops had been sent into Lebanon to search for the two. IAF jets, helicopters and UAVs were also flying above Lebanon searching for the soldiers. Hizbullah's Al Manar TV broadcast earlier Wednesday that the organization had kidnapped the two soldiers. A senior Hizbullah official said that at least one of the allegedly kidnapped soldiers was still alive.
Not that it matters, but Hezbollah had more or less agreed not to engage in these acts after Sharon negotiated the last prisoner swap. Of course, they also more or less admitted at the time that they were lying about that. Which makes them, if nothing else, a good deal more honest than many of Israel's other enemies.
[Cross-posted at IsraPundit]
UPDATE: We usually don't cross-post the intro blurbs that we put at the top of IsraPundit stories, but this one made a claim that we believe will probably be borne out in the coming days and weeks:
In the coming days, it will be interesting to see how international diplomats and journalists claw for a “fair and balanced” middle ground that lays equal responsibility at the feet of Hezbollah - which just committed an act of war - and Israel - which was just the victim of an act of war. And by “interesting” we mean “predictable”. Make no mistake: there is a straight line starting with much of the world’s determination to recognize Hamas’s kidnappings and rocket attacks as legitimate and going straight to - unsurprisingly - Hezbollah’s kidnappings and rocket attacks. If we had to guess, the pretext will be the claim that the Sheba Farms are occupied Lebanese land: a claim that even the UN has rejected as a laughable pretext, but that many will find to be suddenly very reasonable in the coming weeks. Not that it has to be the Sheba Farms - if history teaches us anything, it’s that even the thinnest excuse will convince most people to play along as if the real motive for Hezbollah’s continuing attacks against Jews was mysterious and inscrutable. We used to think it has something to do with their fanatical anti-Semitism, but then University professors told us that accusations of anti-Semitism were just meant to stifle “legitimate criticism of the Zionist regime”. So now we’re back to square one.
