Note: The translations of articles from the Hebrew press
are prepared by the Government Press Office
as a service to foreign journalists in Israel.
They express the views of the authors.
The Calm up Until Now Was Only an Illusion
(Commentary by Ron Ben-Yishai, "Yediot Ahronot", Aug 18, 1999, p. A4)
The calm which has, on the face of it, prevailed in southern Lebanon since
the massive air force attack on June 24 of this year was virtual. The
combat on the ground did not let up even for a moment. But since Hizballah
did not fire Katyushas at the Galilee and the IDF succeeded, up until
yesterday, in carrying out its actions in the security zone without combat
losses, the war was off the front page and there was an erroneous
impression of calm.
Like every Lebanese illusion, this bubble also exploded. What happened
yesterday could also have happened one month ago. However, the harsh
results obligate an inquiry and the drawing up of lessons. The background
to the event is the change in Hizballah's combat tactics, which was
carried out under pressure from the Syrians and the Lebanese government.
Even today, Damascus and Beirut want Hizballah to continue applying
military pressure on Israel but without causing an escalation.
It is clear to Assad that Katyushas at Kiryat Shemona will lead to the
suspension of efforts to resume the political negotiations and additional
damage to Lebanon's infrastructure. Therefore, Hizballah has been ordered
to reduce to the minimum the shelling of IDF and SLA positions. In many
instances, similar shellings have led to the "Grapes of Wrath"
understandings being broken by both sides, and in the end, to Katyushas.
The organization's leaders have decided to focus on placing explosive
charges in the security zone and kidnapping IDF soldiers.
Against this stepped-up activity, the IDF and SLA have made exceptional
successes in recent months. Since the beginning of the year, approximately
60 charges have been uncovered. Only four of them exploded and caused
casualties. Since the beginning of the year, the IDF has lost fewer
soldiers than in similar periods in past years. The IDF has also succeeded
in preventing the placing of charges through initiated actions on the
ground.
The ambush that Golani soldiers laid yesterday was part of these initiated
actions. This time as well, the force succeeded in its mission to
prevent a Hizballah gang from laying charges. But the battle claimed a
bloody price because the Hizballah personnel were the first to open fire.
This fact gives rise to a difficult question: How did the Hizballah
personnel succeed in discovering the IDF force which was supposed to be
well-hidden? An additional troublesome question: How did the terrorists
succeed, in broad daylight, in sneaking up and approaching the force until
it was within close range, without being discovered?
It is true that from the second they were fired upon, the Golani men
operated without fault. They stuck to their mission and fought
appropriately. But the circumstances in which the battle was opened demand
an exhaustive inquiry, and not only because of the sad results from our
point of view, but mainly so that similar events will not recur in the
future.