Israel is changing its gameplan regarding responding to attacks from Hizbullah, and the world is not going to like it. But the rules have changed, since Hizbullah is now officially part of the Lebanese state.
In any future conflict with Hizbullah, Israel will likely cite the Shi’ite group’s increasing influence within the Lebanese cabinet as a legitimate reason to target Lebanon’s entire infrastructure, government sources have told The Jerusalem Post.
In the Second Lebanon War, the IAF did target some of Lebanon’s infrastructure but was asked to stop by the US and others.
According to assessments in Israel, Hizbullah’s influence over Lebanese politics is expected to grow, and it is set to gain at least two more cabinet posts in elections next spring – likely the Interior Ministry and, as a remote possibility, the defense portfolio.
Hizbullah already has a veto on cabinet decisions. There are no major diplomatic and security decisions taken by Lebanon that are not informed by or initiated by Hizbullah, and the Shi’ite group has been given the official title of Liberator of the Shaba Farms (Mount Dov) and the (seven) Shi’ite villages in the Galilee.
Of course, this won’t stop the world from rising up as one and condemning Israel for defending herself. Because this isn’t relevant to the UN:
Hizbullah is four times stronger militarily today than it was at the end of the last Lebanon war. In August 2006 Hizbullah had 14,000 rockets, with Hadera being the southernmost city within their range. Two years after the war, Hizbullah has some 40,000 rockets and Dimona (with its nuclear reactor), Yeroham and Arad, all in the Negev, are at risk, the Post has learned.
Hizbullah has a long-term plan to fortify positions and create strategic depth north of the Litani River, inside Shi’ite villages south of the Litani, and in the Bekaa Valley, its traditional stronghold.
The UN peacekeeping force has argued that it doesn’t see any Hezbollah fortifications and rearming. However, it gets chased out of any areas where Hizbullah is, gee, rearming and fortifying the area. The peacekeepers are utterly useless, except as a barrier between the IDF and Hizbullah. So ultimately, though Israel intends to go after the Lebanese as fiercely as the Lebanese—and let us not forget, Hizbullah are also Lebanese—go after Israel, the world will blame Israel for the use of “disproportionate force.”
So what else is new?