Last
Monday (January 19, 2015) Israel executed an airstrike on a convoy inside
Syrian territory. So far we know of six Hezbollah members that were killed, additionally
to six senior commanders of the IRGC. A lot has been said about this attack and
the on-going war between Israel and Hezbollah, yet not many asked out loud why
Israel decided to attack Hezbollah’s convoy at this particular date.
Israel’s
‘targeted killing’ policy is deeply rooted in Hezbollah’s mind, as well as other
organizations in the Levant, such as Hamas. Israel declared many times that it follows
terrorists and every member of an organization defined as a ‘terrorist organization’
– Israel would use its entire means to assure the termination of these
organizations’ members. That being said, it is important to understand that
this airstrike was not a part of the mentioned above policy, but clearly a moderate
response to recent events. It seems the attack resulted out of various reasons,
which raises many important issues, and mainly the Ego-power-war between two
leaders in the region.
Let
me start with a very interesting coincidence, and not even close to the Middle
East, when Alberto Nisman was found dead in his locked apartment in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, the night after Israel’s attack. Nisman was investigating the 1994
bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in which 85 people died - a bombing,
which supposedly Hezbollah and Iran were responsible for. Last Wednesday
(January 14, 2015) Nisman accused the Argentinian President, Cristina Fernández
de Kirchner, of involvement in a plot to cover up Iran's alleged role in
the bombing.
A day
after Nisman accusation, and three days prior to the Israeli attack, Secretary-General
Hassan Nasrallah gave an
interview to Lebanese TV network Al-Mayadeen. Nasrallah said many things
during this interview, amongst threatening Israel (not for the first time, of
course), but mainly announced to the world that Hezbollah is still trained,
active and ready for action. This interview was inevitable (and predictable) in
light of recent events in Europe and the growing presence of Al-Qaeda and ISIS
all over the world.
All possible media coverage was given
to these organizations and suddenly Hezbollah appeared to be… irrelevant. The
Western world was worried about radical Islam, and Hezbollah was not mentioned.
Needless to say that ISIS is fighting Hezbollah in Syria, and in some cases, in
Lebanon. In many eyes, ISIS has replaced Hezbollah and is taking more effective
actions on the way to Islamic Caliphate, as Hezbollah originally promised in
its ‘Open Letter’ (1985). Even Israeli news coverage, which Hezbollah follows
carefully, ignored Hezbollah and referred to ISIS as the new enemy, as did
Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu in his recent speeches.
PM Netanyahu wishes to join forces
with all other Western countries in their war against terrorism. He has been
trying for a long time to join the war against ISIS, yet with no actual success.
The terrorist attack against the Jewish community in France gave him a chance
to re-unite with his old goal: to return to his ‘natural’ spot as ‘Mr. Security’
of the world, and most importantly, of Israeli public. He needs to prove he
(and the State of Israel) fights terrorism within the country’s borders, and
every place on the globe, if the Coalition only allows it.
Nasrallah watched PM Netanyahu the
last few months (after the organization did not join Hamas in a Northern front
to the last July 2014 war) and obviously could not accept this ‘superior’ attitude.
Not only that the world had forgotten about him and his organization, but also
the Israeli Prime Minister ignores them in public? Since Nasrallah is not
really ready to open a new front in the Lebanese-Israeli border, he granted
this interview in this specific time. This was his ‘moderate response.’
Yet, Nasrallah’s interview, which was
broadly covered by the Israeli media, gave a golden opportunity to PM Netanyahu,
who stands on the edge of a pre-elections time, and needs to show the Israeli public
he is still in control. After taking Hamas out of the equation, at least for a
while, and Iran is too busy with its own problems, PM Netanyahu was left with
no real existential security danger to Israel and its citizens, while he
has no other achievements to present. He is fighting for his political survival
and therefore grasped the opportunity with both hands, and used it well.
And
then, in another very interesting coincidence, only two days after Israel
attacked the convoy, it was announced that PM Netanyahu was invited by the Speaker
(R, Ohio), John A. Boehner, to speak in front of the House about Iran and the
danger of radical Islam. ‘Mr. Security’ is back.
Was it
deliberately that Jihad Mughniyeh was killed in the airstrike? It might be, but I guess we will
never know. It surely was the cherry on the top for the Israeli Prime Minister.
Jihad’s late (and a well-known terrorist) father, Imad, was the symbol of the organization.
Many Israelis just waited for its destruction. Now they could have the cherry.
In this ego-power-war between the two
leaders and as everyone is waiting for more attacks in Israel and Lebanon - both
leaders have won, for now. Both have achieved their current goal: they are
relevant more than ever. Now they just have to keep their promise and continue the
war. Nonetheless, they are not paying the price of this war. We all do.
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