Israel’s Right To Defend Itself

With the new war that has exploded between Israel and Lebanon, people from different parts of the world all have their own opinion on who is at fault, and whether or not Israel has the right to make offensive moves into Lebanese territory. Israel, as of now, has been sending a barrage of artillery fire into southern Lebanon, bombed the Beirut airport, and has been sending the IAF to strike Hebullah controlled areas.

The first issue to analyze is how this war began. After a stand-off that has lasted for several weeks over Hamas kidnapping an Israeli soldier, which left Israel and the PA on the brink of a war, Hizbullah kidnapped two additional soldiers. This is an obvious act of solidarity with the Hamas government, but also left Israel sandwiched between two enemy governments/terror organizations. Hizbullah matched Hamas’s damands to swap the kidnapped soliders for over a thousand prisoners, most of whom are in prison becuase of relations to terrorist organizations. Israel has given in when this happened in the past, but must hold strong and show the Arab-Muslim world that the Jews will not give in to terror.

The European Union and United Nations made their typical responses. They condemed the Israeli self defense actions. This is easy for them to do, as they have a large and growing Arab-Muslim population that they do not want to upset. The EU must look at this a growing problem, as the growing strength of the Arab world is going to be problematic in the future if we keep our reliance on Arab supplied oil and allow extremist political strength to grow. The EU and UN must look to Israel as an ally, and support Israeli actions as they defend themselves from terrorist actions.

So why does Israel have a right to go into Lebanon? Israel has had this right for quite some time. Since Israel left southern Lebanon in 2000, Hizbullah, a terrorist organization, has controlled the boarder and southern regions. For a few years, Hizbullah has constantly been firing mortars into northern Israel. These mortars have been threatening kibbutzim, the Golan Heights region, and the towns surrounding Har Meron. This area includes the city of Kabbalah fame, Tzfat. Any attack on a country from another is considered an offensive act of war, and can be responded to accordingly, even if the act is not sanctioned by the government, and is made by a renegade orgaization. It is a surprise that Israel waited this long to defend itself.

As for the kidnappings, this is also an act of war. While the Lebanese have only kidnapped soldiers, Hamas kidnapped and murdered multiple civilians, and there is no guarantee that Hizbullah will focus on military personel. 70 civilians in Israel have been injured by rocket attacks, and one woman has been killed. This is not a strictly military against military act on either side, but Israel has focused on terrorist and infrastructure targets, while Hizbullah has attacked civilians.

There will hopefully be a quick resolution to this conflict, and I pray for a safe return of the kidnapped soliders. Just remember, terrrorists started this conflict, and Israel, a soverign, democratically elected government, has the right to protect itself.