The reaction to the cease fire in Israel and by the Hisbollah and their supporters is another indication of poor judgement by the Israeli government.
The first misstep was the conduct of the war. The indiscriminate bombardment of Lebanon and he disproportion use of force, which caused a high death toll and massive suffering amongst the Lebanese civilians. This caused the Israelis to lose support in the public mind around the world and increased the pressure from the international community to end the conflict.
Ending the conflict short of achieving their goal of disarming the Hisbollah is now costing the government support at home.
The fact that only the Hisbollah and not Israel pledged aid to the victims (which the civilians living in southern Lebanon and south Beirut truly are) after the cease-fire went into effect will cost Israel even more support. The Israelis will be facing a new generation of enemies seeking revenge for the loss of loved ones, house and home.
Israel cannot continue to disregard human rights and human life and expect to achieve peace.
Popularity: 48% [?]
Eddy | 19 August 2006 at 7:41 am | Permalink
I’ve been very critical of Israel during this crisis. While I have a deep concern for the unnecessary loss of life (on both sides, but especially on the Lebanese side, since the ratio of civilian to militant was much higher than in Israel), I think the greatest mistake for Israel is that they had an opportunity to build trust, but they instead chose to squander that opportunity.
IDF had goals and not one of their goals was accomplished. Senseless fighting…