[Independent-UK-9Aug06/BICOM] Mary Dejevsky - As this war has escalated, so too has the all too familiar shrill and simplistic condemnation of Israel from whole swathes of the liberal West. Israel has a case that deserves a more sympathetic hearing than it is getting. What is incontestable is that Israel has on its side a UN Security Council resolution, 1559, from 2 September 2004, which called for the disarming of Hizballah. In an ideal world, Israel would have left the disarming of Hizballah to the Lebanese government or the UN. But both had proved pathetically unequal to the task. Missile attacks into Israel were not halted either by Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon or by its withdrawal from Gaza last year. Israel can be forgiven for concluding that its policy of "land for peace" would work only if it enforced the peace itself. Israel has the same right as any other state to national security and the same right to defend its borders. The half-heartedness with which this elementary right has been guaranteed internationally, and not only by the UN, is the reason why peace has never been possible.
2006-08-10 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive