Mideast crisis--Blog from Jerusalem
July 27
JERUSALEM--Nine on Wednesday, two on Monday, five on Saturday, two last Thursday, and two last Wednesday. These are the numbers of Israeli soldiers killed in battle since Israel began its ground invasion.
One of the most highly trained and best-equipped armies in the world is sustaining what, for this small country, amounts to high casualties from a group of guerrilla fighters who number only a few thousand. And the Israeli Army has just begun its advance into southern Lebanon.
It should come as no surprise. Israeli recruits serve only three years in the Army. The young infantry officers who were killed serve four or five. They are trained and equipped, yes, but they have no experience conducting guerrilla warfare in the Lebanese terrain, fields, caves, and pastures. They have no experience fighting a groupthat has had six long years to quietly and intensively ready itself for this battle.
But Israel knew all along that Hezbollah was training. It has been warning for over a year that Hezbollah was planning to capture Israeli soldiers along the border. Some Israelis are starting to ask, why didn't Israeli forces prepare? The reason, I think, is arrogance. After winning so many wars against the Arabs as well as being an occupying power over the Palestinians, Israelis didn't believe that Arabs could actually surprise them.
But they have. "We have hit their military capabilities very hard," said a senior Israeli military official in a briefing this week. "They now have fewer rockets, launchers, and fighters. But they still continue."
Sitting at the head of a table wearing his military uniform, he hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I admire them," he said. "Their approach is totally combat-oriented."
On Thursday, a day after nine Israeli soldiers were killed, the security cabinet held an emergency meeting to discuss whether it would expand the ground invasion or just rely on aerial, naval, and artillery strikes on Hezbollah. It decided against bringing in more ground forces.
Israeli infantry soldiers are just not prepared for the fight. And neither are Israeli mothers. And right now, Israel needs all the internal support it can get as it sends its sons to war.
July 26
JERUSALEM--Israel wants an international force with teeth to sit in southern Lebanon and prevent Hezbollah from continuing to act as an independent army there. The Lebanese government wants the force to be under the command of the United Nations--which, for Israel, is a a nonstarter, given the history of the U.N.'s Interim Force in Lebanon. UNIFIL, the 1,990-person force that was deployed in 1978 to preserve the peace in southern Lebanon, is considered toothless by Israel. "It's only for looks," said a high-ranking Israeli military officer in a briefing with selected journalists in Tel Aviv.
Israel wants real men. Ones who will arrest Hezbollah fighters transporting weapons from Syria. Ones who will make raids on suspected Hezbollah headquarters in Shiite villages and cities. Ones who will open fire and kill an armed Hezbollah fighter going near the border with Israel, not just observe and take notes for reports to be sent on to officials. "What we want is something that is more like what they have in Afghanistan," said the officer.
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