Rabbi Hecht on the Folly of Israel's Ceasefire

In recent weeks, this blog has focused very primarily on the Israel-Lebanon war. I certainly plan to continue such coverage, but with so many pertinent political, cultural, and economic events also occurring in the world, I do intend to accordingly re-expand this site's scope. Look for such content to appear in the upcoming days.

Meanwhile, though, guest contributor Rabbi Shea Hecht checks in with his thoughts about Israel's ceasefire:


Accepting Defeat Over Victory
by Rabbi Shea Hecht

I am pained by the recent events in the Middle East. Truly so. The Israelis were provoked to go to war against Hezbollah and did so with a purpose. Missiles were routinely fired on Israeli towns indiscriminately. Their land was invaded, their soldiers were kidnaped and they fought back to make a point that they are a country that cannot be invaded. They wanted to disable the terrorists from being able to carry out these provocations and send a clear message to the citizens of surrounding countries that they shouldn’t think they could attack Israel, kill and kidnap their soldiers and get away with it.

Yet, against all logic and to the dismay of a public that was staunchly behind its government and hoping that the Hezbollah would be wiped out, Israel accepted a cease-fire before all the stated goals of the war were met - especially the return of the soldiers. This is embarrassing and it hurts. If Israel could not disarm Hezbollah, I’m not sure anyone could or would hold it against them. The USA didn’t disarm the terrorists in Iraq in the years since they entered and they are working at it diligently. But to leave the protection of the Israeli public in the hands of a UN peacekeeping force without the return of their soldiers - that hurts.

To add fuel to that fire, the rest of the residents of the Middle East are overjoyed at Israel’s acceptance of the UN cease-fire, calling it an Israeli "surrender” which can further encourage the Arab states to attack Israel.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamida-Reza said, “After one month of war against Lebanon's resistance, Israelis are the absolute losers and Hezbollah is the absolute winner of the war. The occupiers of Jerusalem failed, despite their military, economic, intelligence and diplomatic backings.”

Hezbollah central council member, Ahmed Barakat, told Qatari newspaper, al-Watan, that Hezbollah’s attack was a success. None of Hezbollah’s leadership was injured in the scuffle and the group still possesses thousands of rockets and other weapons for use in the days following the UN cease-fire. He added that those weapons will allow Hezbollah to hit Israel from further away so Hezbollah will not have to be near Israel’s border.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Nasrallah seems quite happy, boasting that Hezbollah has earned a “strategic, historic victory ... We came out victorious in a war in which big Arab armies were defeated.” In what can’t be called a very big surprise, Nasrallah showed very little enthusiasm for disarming his group, declaring that to do so would be “immoral, incorrect and inappropriate. It is wrong timing on the psychological and moral level.”

Incredibly, Hezbollah’s Nassrallah feels so confident from this attack on Israel that he said he is now ready to take on the USA, too.

A few weeks ago, the talk was of what would happen if Hezbollah was crushed by Israel, its military capacity demolished and its supply lines destroyed. Some said that it would lead to a civil war in which rival militias tried to cut into Hezbollah turf and continue their fight. Today, the same people are talking about the problems posed for the other Arab nations because of Hezbollah's increased popularity. Other Arab states have their own armed Islamic groups and they are afraid of the problems that can come if the rebels in their own countries become emboldened by what is perceived as Hezbollah’s success.

Pictures of Hezbollah-leader Hassan Nasrallah “hang everywhere in Ramallah,” according to Al- Jazeera, “covering the walls and shop fronts and plastered across T-shirts and demonstration banners. Secularists, Christians and Muslims alike refer to the Hezbollah leader as Palestine's newest and truest hero.”

Before the war, or even in its early days, people paid Sheik Nasrallah scant attention. But after weeks of fighting, the leader has won over new supporters, far from his usual power base among Lebanon's poor and rural Shi'ite Muslims.

It’s frightening that Israel accepted a cease-fire before crushing Hezbollah; it’s sad that it was before their soldiers were freed. It’s common knowledge that this permanent cease fire will not hold up - in fact it has shown signs of crumbling before it was signed. It has just become another opportunity for the terrorists to declare victory. By accepting it, Israel has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Only crushing the terrorists would have been an acceptable end and if Israel couldn’t do that the least they could have done is negotiated the return of our soldiers - which is why they went to war in the first place. Honestly, what pains me most about the cease-fire that Israel accepted is this: I wonder if loss of the Israeli soldiers who gave up their lives so their brethren can be freed was worth it.


TheSolidSurfer.com responds: Rabbi, thank you for contributing this insightful piece. It's always a pleasure to feature your words of wisdom on this site. I am very pained as well by Israel's disastrous handling of this war. Thousands of soldiers risked their lives (and sadly, as you mentioned, dozens gave their lives entirely) to defend the Jewish people, and Olmert's government seemingly did everything possible to reduce their heroic efforts to naught. Allowing a ceasefire without completely defeating Hezbollah is the absolute wrong move; Israel cannot, under any circumstances, tolerate next door a terrorist group committed to its destruction, and I fully agree that Hezbollah plans to attack the Jewish state yet again.

I am optimistic, though, that Israel will turn the tide. Hezbollah may consider merely surviving to be a "victory", but in reality Israel damaged them quite greatly. This, I believe, will greatly benefit the IDF in the next round, as long as the government no longer restrains it. If Israel can achieve this objective, it should be in far better shape next time.

Thanks again for the essay, and look forward to posting more of your work in the future!