US Makes Another Promise to Israel, and Pauses Long Enough Before Reversing Itself for Us to Blog It
Some day very soon, we're going to need to know where to find this article. So we're putting it right here:
Remember the time when the US promised Israel that UNIFIL would get a Chapter 7 mandate - getting Israel to agree to a UN ceasefire in principle - and then took it back to get a ceasefire passed? Or the time that the State Department committed Israel to the view that the government of Lebanon was uninvolved in the war - preventing Israel from really going after Hezbollah infrastructure - and then took it back to get a ceasefire passed?. We strongly suspect that this will proceed similarly.
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A United Nations-brokered cease-fire would go into effect on Monday morning at 7 A.M., a senior Israeli government official said Saturday afternoon. By then, Israel Defense Forces troops are expected to reach the Litani River, some 30 kilometers inside Lebanon, with the purpose of cutting off Hezbollah forces further south, toward the border with Israel. In the event that the fighting resumes, IDF forces will then be in a position to move more effectively against Hezbollah militants... Haaretz Diplomatic Correspondent Aluf Benn reports that an agreement reached between Israel and the United States on the disputed Shaba Farms area, located on Israel's border with Lebanon, enabled a breakthrough in reaching a cease-fire resolution at the United Nations on Friday. In letters exchanged between U.S. and Israeli leaders, U.S. officials assured Israel that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be authorized to determine whether the area belongs to Lebanon or Syria, but that the future status of the territory would only be determined in negotiations between Israel and Farms' rightful owners. A senior government source said that Israel would not be obligated to withdraw from Shaba Farms, even if Annan's investigation determines that they belong to Lebanon.
A United Nations-brokered cease-fire would go into effect on Monday morning at 7 A.M., a senior Israeli government official said Saturday afternoon. By then, Israel Defense Forces troops are expected to reach the Litani River, some 30 kilometers inside Lebanon, with the purpose of cutting off Hezbollah forces further south, toward the border with Israel. In the event that the fighting resumes, IDF forces will then be in a position to move more effectively against Hezbollah militants... Haaretz Diplomatic Correspondent Aluf Benn reports that an agreement reached between Israel and the United States on the disputed Shaba Farms area, located on Israel's border with Lebanon, enabled a breakthrough in reaching a cease-fire resolution at the United Nations on Friday. In letters exchanged between U.S. and Israeli leaders, U.S. officials assured Israel that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan would be authorized to determine whether the area belongs to Lebanon or Syria, but that the future status of the territory would only be determined in negotiations between Israel and Farms' rightful owners. A senior government source said that Israel would not be obligated to withdraw from Shaba Farms, even if Annan's investigation determines that they belong to Lebanon.
Remember the time when the US promised Israel that UNIFIL would get a Chapter 7 mandate - getting Israel to agree to a UN ceasefire in principle - and then took it back to get a ceasefire passed? Or the time that the State Department committed Israel to the view that the government of Lebanon was uninvolved in the war - preventing Israel from really going after Hezbollah infrastructure - and then took it back to get a ceasefire passed?. We strongly suspect that this will proceed similarly.
