In Defense of Isreal

Guest editorial in today's NY Daily News by Ambassador Arye Mekel, Isreal's consul general in New York....


Israel fights only to defend its people
BY ARYE MEKEL

Some analysts have questioned the proportionality of Israel's response to kidnapped soldiers and the barrage of missiles from Lebanon.

Israel did what any other state would. It took measures to protect its citizens. Why not ask how forcefully America would respond to missile attacks from Mexico? Or France, to bombardment from Italy?

Israel has no territorial dispute with Lebanon. There have been no Israeli troops in Lebanon since 2000. We left Gaza completely a year ago.

The period following Israel's withdrawal should have been a time when the nascent Palestinian government focused on internal politics, promoting development and investment. Gaza could have been the seedling for a Palestinian state. But terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas do not voluntarily surrender their weapons.

So Hezbollah, with strong encouragement from Iran and Syria, continued - and continues - to operate. Lebanon has failed to control them and so violates UN Resolution 1559, calling for the deployment of the Lebanese Army in the south to disarm and control Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is firing rockets and missiles at unprecedented levels, and targeting major cities like Safed, Tiberias and Haifa, Israel's third-largest city.

Israel has responded with restraint. This cannot be said strongly enough. Unlike the terrorists Hamas and Hezbollah, who aim to perpetrate a maximum of harm upon civilians, Israel has directed far less than the full power of her arsenal at these provocations.

Since Hezbollah missiles are usually stored and launched from family homes (who receive "rent" from Hezbollah), Israel drops flyers over areas it plans to target, warning residents to leave. It sees civilian casualties as a tragic and unavoidable cost of war, not as its purpose.

Seeing as there is no territorial dispute between Israel and Lebanon, why has Hezbollah launched its assault? Because Iran hopes to divert attention from its own activities. Because the Syrians hope to keep the region in a state of conflict.

It's time for the Lebanese government to step in, deploy troops and take control of the southern border. The Israeli Defense Force's operations have weakened Hezbollah and made way for the Lebanese government to act like the independent and sovereign country it hopes to be.

The international community also must act. Leaders at the recent G-8 summit made a good beginning, calling for the return of the Israeli soldiers in Gaza and Lebanon unharmed and an end to the shelling of Israeli territory.

Now, the UN should push for the immediate implementation of Resolution 1559. At the same time, it must demand the release of the hostage soldiers.

Once our goals are achieved, Israel will search once more for a partner in dialogue. We want to live in peace with our neighbors, but we cannot allow terrorists to endanger our citizens and way of life.