In that rarest of items, a
helpful diary on the Middle East situation,
Arken asked "You are Israel's Leader: What Would You Do?" I responded with the following imagined communique from the Israeli government that I wish I had woken up to yesterday morning. I repost it here as a diary to inspire further responsible debate and also because like many of us I crave attention (especially on those rare occassions when I'm not simply trying to be flip) and Arken's diary was already almost gone when I got around to commenting.
More. . .
To be clear, this is a made-up statement in answer to Arken's question "What would
you do if you were the Prime Minister of Israel". To some extent, these "what if" games are bit onanistic -- I'm not the Prime Minister of Israel but a privileged American living in a peaceful and multi-ethnic city. I'm not subject to the same pressure he is (or that his "opponents" are), I don't have the same intelligence available, and so on.
But if we are going to debate this kind of issue (and we are), I think Arken's approach is very valuable. Here, then, is my response to his question.
JERUSALEM, Thursday, July 12
The State of Israel protests today's armed incursion in which several members of the Defense Forces were killed and captured and civilian areas were targeted with rocket fire. Furthermore, we note that this incursion was launched from Lebanese territory by armed militias belonging to the Hezballah, a coaltion party in Lebanon's national government.
We call upon the authorities in Lebanon to return our soldiers, to arrest and prosecute those responsible for this unlawful action, and to pay reparations for the damages sustained in this attack. We recognize that the armed groups who perpetrated this attack are not under the direct control of the Lebanese government, but we charge the government with responsiblity to control armed groups within its juridiction and in particular to be responsible for maintaining the integrity of our joint border.
If the Lebanese government is willing but unable to return our soldiers, we hereby request their permission and cooperation to engage in military action to effect the return ourselves. Towards this end I am appointing Corporal Jay Elias of the IDF as my liason with the Lebanese government.
The State of Israel is mindful of our past unfortunate military actions in Lebanon and the unpleasant memories that may be triggered on both sides of the border by any new action there. We therefore pledge that, in the event of Lebanese cooperation, we have no plans to occupy any Lebanese territory or disrupt life there any more than is necessary to recover our soldiers and capture those responsible for the incursion into Israel.
In the event that cooperation of the Lebanese government is not forthcoming, Israel will have no alternative to pursuing significant unilateral actions to recover our soldier and to attempt to neutralize the threat of future attack.
May God grant the peace that people on both sides of the border so sorely desire; and may he grant us the Wisdom to turn this conflict into an opportunity for reconciliation.