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A Strategic Assessment of the Hizballah War: Defeating the Iranian-Syrian Axis in Lebanon

[Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs] Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror and Dan Diker - Israel's current military operations to uproot Hizballah and to destroy it as a formidable military and terror organization is not merely an operation against another determined terror group like Hamas in Gaza. Hizballah has a disciplined, well-trained army with sophisticated weaponry, backed directly by Syria and Iran. A high-level Iranian official recently emphasized to Western diplomats in London Hizballah's importance to Iran: "Hizballah is one of the pillars of our security strategy, and forms Iran's first line of defense against Israel." Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader, shares this perspective: "The war is no longer Lebanon's...it is an Iranian war. Iran is telling the United States: You want to fight me in the Gulf and destroy my nuclear program? I will hit you at home, in Israel." Iran's Revolutionary Guards provide the majority of Hizballah's weaponry, financing, instruction, and strategic command and control. Hizballah's short- and medium-range missiles are manufactured in Iran and exported to Lebanon via the Damascus International Airport. Iranian officers from the Revolutionary Guards are on the ground in Lebanon, playing active roles in supervising terror actions and training Hizballah operatives to launch rockets against Israel. The only way to defeat an insurgency is to first isolate it from external reinforcement. Israel is seeking to cut off Hizballah from Syria and Iran and isolate it from the rest of Lebanon. Syria appears undeterred from continuing its wartime supplies to the Hizballah insurgency, as it has been undeterred in supplying the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. Israel must carry out its current military operation against Hizballah until it is fully neutralized, isolated, and disarmed. It would be nothing short of catastrophic for both Israel and the international community if diplomatic efforts result in Israel being forced to end its military operation prematurely. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, Program Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs, is the former head of the IDF's research and assessment division. Dan Diker is a senior policy analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
2006-07-19 01:00:00
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