(Ynet News) Giora Eiland - Hizbullah continues to serve as the dominant military power in Lebanon and determines whether peace or war will prevail on the Israeli border. In the Second Lebanon War, Israel only fought against Hizbullah. The result was that while Haifa residents stayed in bomb shelters for weeks, Beirut residents went to the beach. Should the northern provocations continue, they may lead to a third Lebanon war. Such a war would be different than the Second Lebanon War in one main aspect: It will be a war between Israel and Lebanon. As nobody is interested in seeing Lebanon devastated, the way to prevent the next war would be to prompt the U.S. and France to convey the following message to Lebanon: Prove that you control the country and prevent provocations. Should Lebanon choose to be a satellite state of the "axis of evil," we would have no reason to prevent Israel from hurting you badly. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland chaired Israel's National Security Council from 2004 to 2006.
2010-08-06 09:06:11Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive