Whenever the discussion turns to the Middle East, things get complicated. This applies in particular when Israel is affected. Even someone who has as much sympathy for the Jewish state as I do should understand this. Because the situation in Gaza and the West Bank is beyond comprehension, a clear black-and-white scheme. Israel’s need for security and fear are too great from Palestinian terror on the one hand and the Palestinians’ right to a life of dignity on the other hand, interwoven with each other.
The multiple unsuccessful attempts to do this for over a hundred resolving years of conflict show how difficult the situation is. It is therefore not surprising that Israel is also often criticized. I can understand, for example, disapproval of settler violence in the West Bank. I also understand that, in view of the horrendous number of victims in the Gaza Strip, more and more people are asking themselves the question of the proportionality of Israel’s actions. Without my military expertise, an assessment was sufficient.
But some things are also clear in the Middle East. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah belongs to it. Israel does not occupy Lebanon’s territory. From the last, after the 1981 war, the IDF left occupied parts of the country in the south almost a quarter of a century ago withdrawn. There are no Jewish settlements in Lebanon like there are in the West Bank blockade of the country, like in the Gaza Strip. Israel makes no territorial claims. Two years ago, both states even concluded an agreement on a common maritime border.
There is therefore no reason for Hezbollah to fight its southern neighbor. Nonetheless, since its founding, the radical Islamic militia has persecuted Israel with hatred and a desire for physical violence and destruction, entirely in accordance with its patron and client, the mullahs’ regime in Iran. For over 40 years, Hezbollah has been terrorizing the Israeli civilian population and shelling the north of Israel Landes, kidnapping soldiers. Their terror is not only directed at Israelis but also affects Jews in other countries, such as two bombings in Buenos Aires in the 1990s, which claimed the lives of more than 100 people.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which requires Hezbollah to withdraw from the southern area to withdraw near the Israeli border, has been ignored by the terrorist organization for years, almost since their farewell. At the same time, Hezbollah’s threat potential is much higher than that of Hamas. It has an arsenal of 100,000 to 150,000 rockets, some of which are highly modern, that can point to Israel. The Israeli missile defense system would be equipped with a large-scale rocket attack from Lebanon, completely overwhelmed.
Immediately after the Hamas massacres of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, the Hezbollah began the shelling of Israel. 60,000 Israelis had to leave their homes in the north of the country and have not been able to return to this day. On July 24, twelve children were killed by a rocket killed by the terrorist organization. It is beyond my comprehension how anyone would show restraint in the face of this threat to Israel. Rather, everyone should recognize the need to defend Israel and be clear to the civilian population.
The insight into the threat to Israel from Hezbollah and the obligation of the people of Jerusalem Of course, the government protecting its own population does not mean that there is no criticism of the “how” of Israeli actions that would be permissible. However, it surprises and outrages me that this is the case. The actual guilt is usually not attributed to the terrorist organization but to the Jewish state. For example, when one reads, “Israel has crossed the red lines,” should Israel allow parts of its territory to become uninhabitable due to rocket fire? Something similar applies for the criticism of the choice of means: If Israel has the right to self-defense, it is dishonest to demand that this be done without civilian casualties.
So important is the protection of the civilian population that so little can guarantee their absolute security in a military conflict. But to emphasize this once again, Hezbollah forced this conflict on Israel and not the other way around. The standards applied to Israel for military deployment are simple and poignantly impossible to fulfill. The heavy airstrikes to eliminate Hezbollah leaders were just as criticized as the largely precise detonation of the pagers. The usually level-headed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, described the latter as a war crime “violence with the intent to spread terror among the civilian population,” although this is exactly what is evident wasn’t the goal.
By these standards, the only option is for the Mossad to kidnap each member of Hezbollah individually, like Adolf Eichmann back then. Side note: The Eichmann kidnapping was also reported at the time and criticized as a violation of international law because they were on the territory of a sovereign state (Argentina). It didn’t matter that it had developed into a playground for old Nazis. Today, no one would probably share the criticism of the kidnapping of the Nazi mass murderer.
It would be nice if Israel could rely on the support of the Hezbollah today in the fight against Hezbollah The world community could count on it instead of just hoping that it would come back decades later in history to get it right.
