An Offer They Can't Refuse

Live From the War in Israel - Day 357

For years we have been hearing that the next war with Hezbollah would come at a great cost. Since 2006, which was the last all-out war with them, their arsenal of rockets has grown and become more deadly. Many of their elite fighters, the Radwan force, went to Syria to help the Assad regime destroy the Sunni resistance, where they gained valuable fighting experience. They were, without a doubt, the most formidable army Israel was facing.

"Was" is probably not the right word. They most likely still are, but it is hard to tell.

 Last week, Israel stunned the world by setting off thousands of tiny bombs embedded in beepers and walkie-talkies. This caused fear and mayhem throughout the ranks of Hezbollah, but more importantly, it took out their main mode of communication. A few days later, the entire leadership of the Radwan force was killed in a targeted strike. Even if Hezbollah has a “deep bench,” this was a mighty blow.

So mighty, Israel decided to seize the momentum and start the war that some people were hoping to avoid. The response from the rest of the world was exactly what was expected: essentially a demand that Israel and Lebanon sign a 21-day, immediate ceasefire so tensions can de-escalate.

Lebanon signed right away. They are very scared that Israel will turn Lebanon into a Gazan wasteland.

Israel hasn’t signed.

Why, you may ask? Well, it is either because we are a country run by bloodthirsty murderers or because this is what any country should do if their citizens are attacked and forced from their homes for 11 months.

I find two things very curious. Firstly, why does no one mention the fact that Hezbollah started this war and could have ended it at any time? They say they are fighting in solidarity with Hamas. Reading some newspapers, this somehow justifies it, as if they are protecting the helpless. Some papers make it sound like Hezbollah are the good guys for starting the war.

The other thing I was wondering about: is Israel at war with Lebanon?

I am so confused. I know that we are not at war with Palestine, only Hamas. Yet when we defend ourselves, it is called genocide against the Palestinians.

The country of Lebanon has its own army, and as far as I know, there is no fighting between Israel and Lebanon. We should sign the ceasefire with Lebanon since we are not fighting them. Maybe that will make everyone happy.

Lebanon signing the ceasefire is a joke. On whose behalf are they doing this? It’s not Hezbollah. Once again, the world is yelling about Israeli intransigence. Everyone, I mean everyone, wants a ceasefire. Why won’t Israel agree?

It’s an easy answer: Israel doesn’t want to.

Why, you may ask?

Because for the last 11 months, Israel has allowed Hezbollah to dictate the pace of the altercation. It had accepted the fact that close to 100,000 people had to evacuate their homes for all that time. All during that time, I did not hear any calls on Hezbollah to stop attacking Israel.

We had enough.

I am sure we would agree to an immediate ceasefire if Lebanon, Hezbollah, or whoever would implement the last agreement made in 2006, which is UN Resolution 1701. In this agreement, the United Nations, that paragon of honest brokerage, agreed to place troops on the Israeli–Lebanese border to keep Hezbollah away. Hezbollah (or Lebanon or Iran or maybe the Houthis) agreed to keep their troops behind the Litani River, which is about 18 miles from the Israeli border.

Hezbollah did not keep its end of the agreement for one day, and the UN did nothing.

Of course, this time, it would be different.

I have read many articles from many smart people saying that Israel might be winning militarily but on the world stage they may never recover.

It goes to the old question: would you rather be loved or feared?

When you live in the West, it is very easy to pick the former. When you live here, you must choose the latter. Otherwise, there would be nothing left to love. Our enemies want only one thing. It is not freedom for the Palestinians. It is the removal of every Jew living from the river to the sea.

I want to end by saying something about our prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu.

If you have been reading my blog, you know I am not a fan. That said, I cannot think of another leader (except for maybe my candidate Avigdor Lieberman) who would have stood up to the enormous pressure for ceasefires.

It is without a doubt in my mind that it is completely his fault that we got into this mess. It is also without a doubt that this was inevitable. By pretending it wasn’t, 1,200 of us were raped, mutilated, burned, and murdered. 250 were taken captive.

Bibi is blamed all the time for a lack of a hostage deal. I am not naïve and understand that ending the war is not in his interest, but it also assumes that Hamas wants a ceasefire, and only Bibi is holding it up or that he keeps changing the terms. Some people don’t even care. They think we should release thousands of terrorists in return for the remaining one hundred hostages without any concessions from our enemies.

I can say unequivocally that if it was one of my children, I would feel the same. Very few parents wouldn’t (although some brave ones are putting the country first). However, looking at the future of the country, it would be a mistake.

Besides, Hamas does not want a deal. One of the reasons there is no deal is because they insisted on getting the release of the same amount of terrorists even after they shot 6 hostages in the head.

Should we have agreed to that? If yes, what would stop them from shooting the rest of the living hostages?

Nothing.

Hamas is waiting for the American election, and they are right. If they can hang on, they know, that whether Kamala Harris wins or loses, the backing of the current administration will diminish considerably.

Hezbollah, on the other hand, wants a deal. It doesn’t mean they will give in to all Israel's demands, but they have been damaged. A State Department official told CNN that Hezbollah was set back 20 years.

The New York Times recently wrote that Hezbollah is debating whether or not to unleash the full force of their arsenal. I don’t think so. I don’t think they can. If they could, they would have. Israel has done so much damage, their command structure is no longer there for them to hit back hard. The fact that Iran recently said they don’t want war signals that they are scared as well.

I might be totally off base with this (I hope I am not).

I think we will find out soon. What is obvious is that we have the momentum, and now is not the time to agree to anything that does not bring security to all the citizens of Israel.

Now is the time to instill the fear. The love may never come back, but the West will eventually wake up to the fact that this is their fight as well.

Maybe they will even thank us.