Before the Rockets Start to Explode

Tony Badran
Across the Bay
25 May '10

(Tony Badran does a great service in isolating this particular item from the two-part article. Unfortunately the analysis in part-one leaves you wishing the portion below had been the entire article. Ben-Yishai still looks back at the withdrawal from Lebanon as having been technically, as opposed to inherently flawed. Similiarly prevalent, after years of rocket attacks, the same misconception concerning the Gaza evacuation.)

Ron Ben-Yishai in Ynet today:

At this time, Hezbollah serves as Iran’s long strategic arm, aimed at deterring Israel from attacking Tehran’s nuclear program by threatening the Jewish State’s military and civilian home front. For the Syrians, Hezbollah constitutes an important component in its war plan, and therefore Damascus arms it with whatever it possesses. In Syrian eyes, the group’s aim is to pulverize the Israeli home front, while splitting the IDF’s offensive effort between Lebanon and Syria, thereby also preventing an outflanking operation on the west that would target Syria’s defensive posture in the Golan.

Related article: The Solution Is in Damascus and Tehran

For that reason, a solution to the Lebanese problem cannot be found in Baalbek, in Beirut, or in Hezbollah’s fear of other ethnic groups in Lebanon. The root of the Lebanese problem is in Damascus and Tehran, and this is where Israel should be seeking a solution, with American help. If possible, this should be done via the combination of military deterrence and effective international pressure. Yet should this fail, the other option is a well-planned military campaign, which will be launched before the rockets start to explode in our territory.

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