WHO SHOULD PROTECT THE IDF SOLDIERS?
There may be some among you who still need proof that the Security Zone is the source of the tribulations of the northern settlements and that the soldiers of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) are not the shield of Kiryat Shemona. Furthermore, there may be some among you who still need an illustration of the fact that the IDF in Lebanon is first and foremost a bargaining chip that serves the interests of the Syrians. If so, then the breakdown of the system during the past few days is a living proof in the most painful way.
The
soldiers of the IDF were sent out to war in the Security Zone in South Lebanon
in order to protect the settlers and the settlements of the north, and for no
other purpose. There is no way to ensure the well-being and security of
soldiers in war, except through the training that they receive, the equipment
at their disposal and the methods of operation that they employ.
Indeed,
the IDF had found a method of warfare that enabled it to go through a number of
months without casualties. Yet, as in similar cases in the past, it is a
question of time until the enemy adapts itself to the new method. Therefore,
the war in South Lebanon requires constant changes of method, even in the midst
of successes, which in any case are always temporary in Lebanon.
Indeed,
the IDF soldiers were sent to Lebanon in order to protect the citizens of the
north and safeguard their routines of daily life. Yet when the government and
the IDF did not have the sense to adapt themselves in time to the changing
realities of Lebanon and paid the price of casualties for this failure, they
discovered a new sophisticated method of operation. The residents of the north
would pay the price of defending those who basically had been sent to defend
them.
Tens
of thousands of residents of the north have already abandoned their homes and
headed southwards, away from the range of the Katyusha rockets. Thousands of
mothers spend their time with their children in air-raid shelters under
conditions of anziety, crowdedness and a lack of privacy.
There
is also damage to the regional economic fabric and a threat to the upswing in national
tourism which is expected next month with the visit of the Pope. It may
certainly be that the damage that we have caused to ourselves is greater that
the damage to the infrastructures of Lebanon.
The
chief of the Northern Command has even been authorized to punish those who are
fed up with the stressful routine of an air-raid shelter and the Minister of
Welfare has been authorized to issue an injunction against some of those who
are seeking a sense of security and freedom far from the range of the Katyusha
rockets. Despite it all, it is business as usual and another IDF soldier has
meanwhile fallen in Lebanon.
The
Hizbollah has more than once violated the Grapes of Wrath Understandings in the
course of the fighting, but the IDF has also made multiple violations. Yet the
Hizbollah took care not to harm Israel itself and both sides avoided harming
innocent civilians. Thus the Grapes of Wrath Understandings served the purposes
of the IDF warfare in Lebanon, that is, defense of the northern settlements.
These understandings were thrown aside for the sake of freedom of action in the
operations of the IDF in Lebanon.
There
may be some among you who still need proof that the Security Zone is the source
of the tribulations of the northern settlements and that the soldiers of the
Israel Defense Force (IDF) are not the shield of Kiryat Shemona. Furthermore,
there may be some among you who still need an illustration of the fact that the
IDF in Lebanon is first and foremost a bargaining chip that serves the
interests of the Syrians. If so, then the breakdown of the system during the
past few days is a living proof in the most painful way.
The
time has come to unilaterally withdraw from Lebanon. Even without the Security
Zone, we can still if necessary attack targets in the Lebanese infrastructure.
Our position in the negotiations with Syria would thereby only improve.