Israel in Lebanon: What It's All About

Zev Chafets writes in an op-ed for the New York Times:

Successive Israeli governments made the prevention of missile attacks a major goal. Israeli diplomacy, from the Oslo accords through the unceremonious Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 and right up to the current frenzied efforts to stop the Iranian nuclear program, have been premised on the fragility of Israeli morale in the face of assault. Starting with the first gulf war, Israel went from being the deterrent power in the neighborhood to being the chronic frightened patsy.

At least that’s what Sheik Nasrallah thought when his men snatched two Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese border. He figured the new prime minister, Ehud Olmert, would meet almost any price to get the soldiers back peacefully.

Instead, Mr. Olmert attacked. He knew that retaliation would bring on the missiles and rockets, but he evidently thought it was worth the risk.

What Mr. Olmert didn’t know when he gave the order — what the Israeli public itself didn’t know — was that the rockets wouldn’t cause panic. Fear, yes. Caution, too, and some complaining (this is Israel, after all). But, amazingly, most people in even the most vulnerable areas have behaved with something like the sanguine good nature of the British during the Blitz.

What’s different this time? Leadership, in Jerusalem and in Washington.

For Israelis, fighting back made all the difference. We’ve taken Hezbollah’s best shot and we’re still standing. “We will win,” Mr. Olmert told the Knesset on Monday, and this simple assertion became an instant headline and a rallying cry. [emphasis added]

That's what it's all about:
It's not about being a bully.
It's not about wanting to destroy Lebanon.

It's about fighting back.
And it's about time.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hezbollah and Hizbollah and Lebanon.