[Der Spiegel-Germany] Matthias Kuntzel - On the third day of the current crisis, fully three-quarters of all Germans polled were convinced that Israel was overreacting and using too much force in its response to Hizballah. I disagree: First, Israel is fighting a just war. Germany and the EU should unequivocally back Israel. Islamism has attacked Israel from both the south and the north. Islamism is out to completely eradicate the country and Israel has no choice but to react. Second, Israel wants peace. The goals being pursued by the Israeli military operation are to achieve the implementation of UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of Hizballah, and UN Resolution 5241, which calls for south Lebanon to be solely under the control of the Lebanese army. Third, there is no alternative to Israel's current military operation. Will Hizballah ever willingly give up their weapons? Not a chance. A UN force would never be able to achieve what Israel could. The demand for an immediate cease-fire is the equivalent of a plea for saving Hizballah. Fourth, Israel's military operation has already resulted in positive effects. For the first time in the history of the Middle East conflict, an overwhelming majority of the Arab League distanced itself from Hizballah's "dangerous adventurism." It is terrible to look on while southern Beirut is turned into piles of rubble and to know that civilians on both sides - as well as Israeli soldiers - are being injured and killed. Even worse, though, is the realization that Iran could very well emerge as the victor in this war and use the current conflict to justify future attacks. The pacifist reaction that the Israeli defensive war has triggered in Germany and Europe is not well thought out, and is also counter-productive. An immediate cease-fire would merely result in a worse conflict in the future. Israel is fighting genocidal Islamism as the proxy for the rest of the Western world. The least Israel should be able to expect from the West is that it not be betrayed.
2006-07-27 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive