Neither Hezbollah nor Israel will go to war right now. Israel cannot defeat Hezbollah now any more than it could in the war n 2006, which ended in a military stalemate but a strategic victory for Hezbollah.

Hezbollah won’t go to war against Israel because it cannot afford to lose its already questionable prestige in Lebanon due to the terrorist party’s having entered the conflagration in Syria and bringing it inside Lebanon’s borders.

Hezbollah’s attack in Israel yesterday was an eye-for-an-eye retaliation for Israel’s pre-emptive bombing raid in Syria two weeks ago in which a dozen Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers and commanders were wiped out.

Their plan to attack the Israeli side of the Golan Heights bore out fears that Hezbollah wants to be able to strike Israel along the entire northern border, from the Mediterranean Coast of Lebanon to the eastern side of the Golan Heights.

“Hezbollah” does not just mean the terrorist party and army. It also means “Iran,” its financial and military mother.

“Hezbollah” also means “Lebanon,” to a large extent. Hassan Nasrallah’s party dominates the government, but the world recognizes “Lebanon” and not “Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah, diplomatically, is a state within a state. It has one of the largest military arsenals of any army in the world, with 120,000 missiles in Lebanon, and now in Syria, poised to pulverize not only northern Israel but also Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

It is an act of war when a country’s army attacks another nation and kills two soldiers. “Restraint” is not the proper response. The proper response is an all-out retaliation to end the enemy threat.

But officially, neither Lebanon nor Iran attacked Israel yesterday. The provocateur was a terrorist army and party. Israel cannot wipe out the Hezbollah army because, like Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza, it operates from within civilian population centers and now also is located in the maze of hell that is called Syria,” which no longer exists as a nation except in name.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said yesterday, “My recommendation to those who challenge us in the north is to take a look at what happened in Gaza.”

Bull Stuff.

Hamas had several thousand rockets, some of them sophisticated, but Israel’s Iron Dome system was able to intercept most of them. In addition, the land mass of  Hamas-controlled Gaza is all of 139 square miles (360  square kilometers), surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west and an unfriendly Egypt and Israel on the south, west and north.

Lebanon is nearly 30 times larger with 4,015 square miles (10,400 sq km). Besides the Mediterranean Sea on the west and Israel on the south, Lebanon — and Hezbollah — have Syria for a neighbor in the east and north.

Netanyahu said, “The (Israel Defense Forces) is responding now to the incident in the north. The IDF stands ready to act forcefully on all fronts.” In truth, he was only reassuring Israelis and sending shivers down the spines of the West, but he and Hezbollah know very well that Israel is not going to  “act forcefully on all fronts.”

Israel does not have an anti-missile system that can protect the country against 120,000 missiles, some of them very long-range rocket and probably with chemical warheads. The IDF indeed could crush Lebanon. It could punish the country for allowing and actively supporting Hezbollah.

Before doing so, who knows how much Hezbollah would cripple Israel with missiles.

But everyone, especially Netanyahu, knows that any large-military operation would leave Israel isolated in the world

The United States stated yesterday its  usual wishy-washy position that backs Israel with a big “but”:

We support Israel’s legitimate right to self-defense and continue to urge all parties to respect the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon. We urge all parties to refrain from any action that could escalate the situation.

That was the same language used every time Hamas attacks Israel with a missile.

Any Israeli attack would be “disproportionate.” The international community does not apply the rules  of war when it comes to Israel, which always must show it is so Christian that it can turn the other cheek and not use force.

As  disgusting it sounds, the bitter truth is that Israeli won’t go to war over the deaths of two soldiers. It should but it won’t.

Israeli does not have the self-confidence, spiritually and diplomatically, to attack Hezbollah and Lebanon.

Nine years ago, Hezbollah kidnapped and murdered two soldiers and sparked a five-week war that proved that exposed, once again, Israel’s real weakness.

The Foreign Minister at the time was Tzipi Livni, who now threatens to become the next Prime Minister of Israel on a rotational basis with Labor party chairman Yitzchak Herzog.

Livni signed on the dotted line of United Nations Resolution 1701 that was a cease-fire version of the Oslo Accords. Instead of the Palestinian Authority, it was the United Nations that promised to disarm “foreign armies,” without naming Hezbollah.

The resolution stated:

Pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state.

The resolution called for:

 Israel to withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon in parallel with Lebanese and UNIFIL soldiers deploying throughout the South…

Disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon (implying but not stating Hezbollah)

No armed forces other than UNIFIL and Lebanese (implying Hezbollah and Israeli forces) will be south of the Litani River

No foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its government….

The importance of full control of Lebanon by the government of Lebanon .

Of course, Israel withdrew. Not only did UNIFIL not dis-arm Hezbollah, UNIFIL allowed it to continue to smuggle weapons from Iran, via Syria.

The resolution left Hezbollah ins a stronger than ever position and weakened Israel, which proved again its military may be strong but its backbone Is too weak to support a military victory to safeguard the country.

Below is a video of how Hezbollah terrorists escapes an Israel Air Force bombing of a missile launcher in the war in Lebanon in 2006.

The IDF reportedly moved Iron Dome anti-missile systems to defend northern communities Monday night in the wake of Hezbollah threats to punish Israel for Sunday’s spectacular counter-terror bombing raid that killed approximately a dozen Hezbollah and Iranian Revolutionary Guards fighters.

The IDF told The Jewish Press, “We do not confirm or deny movements” of the Iron Dome systems, although the military previously has announced their redeployment against rockets from Gaza.

A picture of the Iron Dome being transported was posted on social media, but its location could not be verified.

Farmers in Metulla, which is smack on the northern border, were ordered off their fields by the IDF in SMS messages sent out Monday morning. Farmer Chaim Hod was quoted by Yediot Acharonot as saying that he and is workers began pruning apples tress at 6 a.m. and were ordered away from the orchards by mid-morning.

Several Metulla farms are located at the border, beyond a barbed wire fence, and are off-limits to anyone except the farmers and the IDF.

Reserve units stationed along the Lebanese border are on high alert, and several leaves of absence for regular soldiers have been cancelled.

Increased patrols were observed on both sides of the border, with UNIFIL, Lebanese and Israeli troops keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity.

UNIFIL troops are using night goggle and binoculars, according to sources quoted by the Beirut Daily Star.

Israel soldiers were seen patrolling the streets of Metulla, but civilians on both sides of the border do not seem concerned,

Hod said he actually feels safer when he sees both UNIFIL and Israeli soldiers beefing up patrols, and a Lebanese construction worker told the Star, “We are not afraid. As you see we are continuing construction work just a few kilometers from the Israelis.”

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said, “The IDF is prepared, tracking all developments, and ready to act as needed.” The air strike highlights the excellent level of Israeli intelligence operations, which are the key to carrying out counter-terror strikes and make Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah think twice and three times every time he moves.

As in the past, Israel warned Lebanon that it will be held responsible for any attacks by Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon and is an influential part of the fragile government.

The threat of a fierce Israeli retaliation to any Hezbollah aggression is a strong deterrent. Hezbollah has fallen into growing disfavor in strife-torn Lebanon because it has brought the war in Syria into Lebanon by fighting rebels to the Assad regime. Lebanese hate Israel but a devastating retaliation by the IDF to Hezbollah rockets would make the terrorist army and party even more unwanted.

Below is a video of the aftermath of the attack on Hezbollah and Iranian commanders, as seen in a telecast from southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah is threatening to take deadly revenge on Israel for Sunday’s strike on terrorists in Syria, but more significant is that Iran has admitted that one of its generals and (five or) six soldiers were killed in addition to Hezbollah’s casualties.

Lebanese sources identified the Iranian field commander as Abu Ali Tabtabai.

Also reported killed was Iranian General Mohammad Aji Alladadi, who was there as an advisor to the Syrian government.

Mohammad Issa “Abu Issa” who was a senior commander of Hezbollah’s Syrian and Iraq network.

Jihad Mughniyeh who was Hezbollah’s point man on the Golan Heights, setting up the terror infrastructure there.

Also presumed killed are Ali Hassan, Hussein Hassan and Majdi al0Musawi.

The IDF is on high alert for a Hezbollah attack and communities on the Golan Heights and the Upper Galilee are on a virtual war-footing.

Unlike previous attacks in Syria on missiles and other weapons destined for Hezbollah, Sunday’s raid struck Hezbollah terrorists on the ground, hitting three vehicles traveling in the Golan Heights.

As usual, Hezbollah responded with threats, especially since Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week warned that he will order an attack on Israel at some time or another.

Hezbollah has denied that its fighters are on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, but the aerial bombing on Sunday erased that lie. It said one of the dead was a leading commander, Mohammed Amed Issa, and it admitted that an Iranian also was killed.

The established  presence of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Israel’s border will make it even harder for President Barack Obama to take a dovish position on the Iranian nuclear threat without Congress, as well as Israel, doing everything possible to stop an appeasement policy. J. E. Dyer wrote in The Jewish Press here on Sunday:

Syria is now uniquely important to Iran’s nuclear aspirations because of the internal turmoil.  There is no meaningful mechanism for enforcing “national” Syrian accountability to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.  This is an ideal situation for Iran, and is only enhanced by the fact that the Syrian nuclear program has been on the alternate path to a plutonium bomb, as opposed to Iran’s well-advanced path to a uranium bomb.

A nuclear weapon aimed at Israel is Hezbollah and Iran’s ultimate revenge.

Meanwhile, no one is discounting Hezbollah threats, but it will not have an easy time to attack Israel, especially now that it is clear that Iran is operating across the Golan Heights border.

Hezbollah has enough rockets to cripple Israel, but the price of an attack could be suicidal for the terrorist army as well as Lebanon.

It will be a lot easier and less risky if Hezbollah takes revenge by attacking Jews outside Israel.

It remains to be seen if the death of Alberto Nisman, the state prosecutor in the Hezbollah-directed bombing of the Argentine Jewish Center bombing, was a suicide, as originally suggested, or was murder.

Was it a coincidence that he was shot dead hours after Israel killed six Hezbollah commanders?

Gadi Eizenkott will replace IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz in February, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced Saturday night, with the blessing of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Eizenkott, now Gantz’s deputy, took over the Northern Command after his predecessor quit in 2006 after sharp criticism of his conduct in the 34-day Second Lebanon War that summer, a war which was arguably one of the most embarrassing for Israel in terms of the military’s lack of preparation, poor intelligence, logistic fiascos and loss of life.

Eizenkott has restored some dignity to the IDF following the Second Lebanon War and is backs a policy to show “no mercy shown when it comes to hitting the national infrastructure of a state that, in practice, is controlled by terrorist organization Hezbollah.”

After an 18-month leave of absence to serve as a researcher in an Israeli think tank, Eizenkott returned to the army as Gantz’s deputy in 2013.

“Maj.-Gen. Eizenkott has been chosen from an excellent group of major generals to lead the IDF in the face of the complex security challenges facing the State of Israel. On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I wish him success,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.

That would seem be a given, but given the recent years of the IDF commanders anxious to please the Obama administration, it is a “revolution” to think that that enemies should be killed and not “engaged.”

Eizenkott is not considered trigger-happy and will not send soldiers into war unless diplomacy does not work, Yediot Acharonot observed. But when the army has to hit, it will do it the way it should.

He enlisted in the Golani unit, which has produced many of IDF Chiefs of Staff.

Reserve Maj.-Gen. Ilan Biran, who worked alongside Eizenkott and was his senior commander, told Yediot, “After the Oslo Accords, as the GOC Central Command, I was looking for a brigade commander who knew how to handle a complicated and complex area – on the one hand there were the settlers and on the other hand militant cities like Tulkarem and Kalkilya. Eizenkott showed qualities of a model brigade commander, he showed common sense, restraint, unusual responsibility and creativity. He managed to avoid unnecessary conflicts and controlled these cities successfully in what was an extremely delicate task.”

In the recent Protect Edge operation against Hamas this past summer, Eizenkott favored a policy of not trying to destroy Hamas or take over Gaza.

He is known not to be afraid to say what he thinks, a rarity among recent senior military leaders.

The hope is that the Peter Principle will not change him when he takes over from Gantz and that he will continue to be homiest, tough and modest, characteristics sorely lacking in the top military echelon where commanders often worry more about being politically correct rather than protecting the country.

Palestinian Authority unity government chairman Mahmoud Abbas – or “Abu Mazen,” the Fatah terrorist name he uses among Arabs – today (Tuesday Nov. 11, 2014) declared war on the State of Israel.

Claiming that Israel had launched the horrific Arab violence that is being perpetrated against Israelis across the country, Abbas vowed to seize Israel’s holiest city for the PA.

“Israel is leading us into a religious war,” he told thousands of Arabs in the PA capital of Ramallah. Abbas spoke at a ceremony at the Muqata, the PA government seat, to mark 10 years since the death of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) chairman Yasir Arafat.

“Jerusalem will be solely Palestinian,” Abbas vowed.

While Abbas was promising supporters in Samaria that he would lead them to victory in seizing Israel’s capital for their own, PA Arabs further south were clashing with IDF soldiers and Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was completing a Gush Etzion brigade assessment.

“We are in the midst of an escalation,” Ya’alon told the troops. “We will take a firm hand to stop this wave of violence, including more widespread arrests than in the past, and the demolition of the homes of terrorists.

“The fate of any terrorist who raises his hand with a knife, or who uses a car to run people over, is death,” Ya’alon declared.

To the PA leadership, the defense minister added, “The Palestinian Authority and the entities working on the ground to prevent escalation are conducting coordination meetings with us. That is happening despite the rhetoric, calling for escalation, by the heads of the Palestinian Authority.”

Meanwhile, scores of Arabs hurled rocks and firebombs (Molotov cocktails) at Israeli soldiers in a violent riot at the Judean Arab village of El Aroub, a burgeoning community that once was a refugee camp. Located close to Highway 60, it is situated close to the Gush Etzion junction and slightly south of Bethlehem.

IDF soldiers responded to the violence with riot control measures and when it became necessary, opened fire in self-defense. A 21-year-old PA Arab was allegedly shot and killed in the melee.

At least 150 PA Arabs were also clashing with IDF soldiers Tuesday in an area south of Hebron, and close to the Jewish community of Negohot.

Security forces were using riot dispersal measures to control the mob and bring the incident to an end without injuries. By 3pm there were no reports of casualties.

Israel’s governing cabinet was set to meet in emergency session Tuesday afternoon in light of the escalation in violence around the country.

Jerusalem police found two stolen guns, 11 bullet cartridges and dozens of stolen IDF stun grenade in eastern Jerusalem Friday and arrested an Arab suspect in Jabal Mukaber, an Arab neighborhood next to the Jewish area of Armon HaNatziv.

The Israeli government has ordered a crackdown in Arab areas of the city in the wake of the new intifada, riots or Arab Spring uprising, depending on the mood of an editor.

The warning signs have been flashing for three years, but an Israeli blind eye and President Barack Obama’s overt backing for Palestinian Authority-claimed areas of Jerusalem have allowed terror to capture the fancy of an increasing number of Arabs in what is commonly referred to as “eastern Jerusalem.”

In fact, the Palestinian Authority also claims sovereignty over southern Jerusalem, home to tens of thousands of Jews in Gilo, Talpiot and Har Homa, and northern Jerusalem, where Pisgat Ze’ev and Nevei Yaakov are the homes of tens of thousands of other Jews. French Hill and much of Ramot also are in areas where President Obama has declared Jews to be “illegitimate” and “illegal.”

American ignorance of the Arab culture, especially when it comes to its attitude of a Jewish state of Israel, does not take into account that the president’s remarks, certainly not intended as incitement for violence, give the Arab world justification to ram cars into people, beat them with iron rods and throw rocks at them, at their cars and at the Jerusalem light rail trains system in order to defeat the “Zionists.”

Ambushes of Jews in “eastern “Jerusalem were reported as far back as three years ago. People were severely beaten and hospitalized, but the government ignored the incidents, encouraging the state of anarchy.

Police tried to stay out of Arab neighborhoods in order not to “escalate tensions,” a ghetto state of mind that is paralleled today by calls for Jews to stay away from the Temple Mount in order not to anger Arab Muslims.

It more or less reminds me of a little talk gave to a group of armchair Zionists in Baltimore more than 20 years ago during the Oslo idiocy. After I described the illegal hobbies of our Arab neighbors in the southern Hebron Hills, and after explaining the Jewish meaning of the word “Shalom,” one of the names of God, a very polite and stupid gentleman stood up and asked, “Well, if the Arabs don’t want leave you alone in peace, why don’t you just move to Tel Aviv?”

The Arab world has fed Arabs in Israel, and more worryingly an entire new generation, a steady diet of hatred and the notion that they are a “people” who are “stateless.” They believe Israeli is “occupying” them and would not believe how loathsome and pathetic were the lives of the grandparents and great-grandparents under the Jordanian occupation from 1948-1967.

That is part of history they never will learn. Instead, Hamas has done what Yasser Arafat did – exploit a vacuum and incite people to war.

There is war in Jerusalem, a war that Israel cannot afford to lose.

The violence may subdue tomorrow, or next week or next month, or not at all. Like most wars, there is no logic. Jerusalem Arabs received benefits from Israel that they could only dream of receiving under a Palestinian Authority regime.

They enjoy the light rail system, a cheap and efficient way of arriving to work.

But much of Arab Jerusalem is lawless. The city had allowed tens of thousands of Arab buildings to be constructed without permits. It also has discriminated against Arabs when it comes to funding for schools, parks and other municipal services.

First Published on Sept. 25, 2012

“And all the nations will see that the Name of God is called upon you, and they will fear you” (Deuteronomy 28:10).

During the First Lebanon War, the IDF forced the PLO terrorists all the way to the Beirut port and then to Tunisia. The PLO, which had lost its stronghold in Lebanon, was shattered. Salach Taamri, the most senior and admired terrorist captured by the IDF, was imprisoned in the Ansar detention camp. He was a broken man.

Later, Taamri was interviewed by journalist Aharon Barnea for the book he would write about him, To be Captive. In Barnea’s book, Taamri describes the situation of the terror organization prior to Pesach, 28 years ago. “I concluded,” said Taamri, “that we had no chance to overpower Israel’s financial and military prowess, and that we should make do with the crumbs that they would throw us and fold up all our flags.”

Taamri, an intellectual and patriot, willingly cooperated with his captors. The other prisoners understood from their admired commander that the end had come and that the war was lost. And then, Taamri continued, a surprising event took place that turned everything upside down.

“My hands were holding the cold bars and I was looking from inside my dark jail cell toward the hall where an Israeli guard was walking. I saw him from far. He was walking slowly, holding something in his hand that he would constantly bring close to his mouth. He would bring it close and then distance it. When he was close to my cell, I called to him. I saw that he was eating a pita. He would bite, chew, bite and chew.

“You are a Jew,” I said to him. “Why are you eating chametz on Pesach? Don’t you know that it is forbidden for a Jew to eat chametz on this holiday?”

“I am not committed to the things that happened to my people during the exodus from Egypt 2,000 years ago. I have no connection to it,” said the Jewish prison guard.

Taamri continued: “I sat on the mattress in my cell and said to myself, ‘A nation of people who do not have a connection with their past; who are willing to publicly desecrate the laws of their faith, is a nation that has cut off the roots from its land. We will be able to achieve our goals.’ On that night, my approach completely changed. I couldn’t fall asleep. In all those hours of darkness, I replayed that scene with the Jewish prison guard.

“The next morning I gathered the Palestinian leadership in the prison, all those who knew my opinion over the years. I told them about my experience and the conclusions that I reached. I clarified to everyone that from that morning, we were embarking on a new course: a war for everything. Not for a small percentage and not for crumbs that they would throw us. For opposing us was a nation that lacked the connection to its roots, a nation not interested in its past. Thus, its motivation was necessarily void of any will to struggle and fight.”

Since then, Taamri says that he has told his story to tens of thousands of people and has convinced all of them that the approach must be changed to this: the Palestinians must struggle without compromise.

Taamri was elected to the Palestinian parliament and indeed convinced his friends, breathing new spirit into the war against Israel. The damage done by that pita eaten by the Israeli soldier on Pesach cannot be exaggerated.