Israel contacts UNIFIL to tell them that they will be doing their weekly bush clearing on the border. UNIFIL asked the IDF to delay the pruning for several hours. The IDF complied. At the appointed time, UNIFIL asked for another delay. The IDF complied again. Then the IDF sent down the crane. The soldier began trimming the trees. What happened next is detailed in an email sent to the Elder of Ziyon by an IDF source:

At this point, the Lebanese Armed Forces opened fire with snipers towards Israel. It must be noted, however, that such fire was not aimed at the soldiers located by the fence, but rather directly aimed at IDF officers who were standing in a separate area, on higher ground. These officers were wearing helmets and flack jackets. The officer who was killed by this fire was shot in the head, despite the armour he was wearing. This demonstrates the premeditated, planned and deliberate nature of the Lebanese attack.

The soldier on the crane was not the target, and yet, the Lebanese shouted to the world that he stepped across the border. Then they shot his commanding officer, who was clearly not over the border, in the head, in a deliberate, unprovoked attack. And even the Lebaneseadmit that they shot first. So how does the AP present its analysis of the event?

It took no more than cutting down a tree to shatter four years of calm on the Israel-Lebanon border.

[...] The clash started after an Israeli soldier on a crane dangled over a fence near the border early Tuesday to trim a tree that could provide cover for infiltrators. The Israelis said they clear such underbrush at least once a week and coordinate their actions with UNIFIL, the peacekeeping force that has been in the area for more than 30 years.

This time the tree trimming was followed by gunfire from the Lebanese army, apparently aimed not at the soldier hanging over the fence, but at a base some distance away, where a senior officer was killed by a shot to the head. Another officer was wounded. Israel responded with gunfire and shelling, killing two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist.

The onus in the lead, of course, is on Israel, even though the Lebanese clearly shot first, unprovoked. But you have to dig through half the AP article before finding those facts.

Even so, Lebanon still considers the tree-trimming a provocation, saying its soldiers fired warning shots after the Israelis ignored requests from UNIFIL to stop cutting the tree, and Israel retaliated.

Information Minister Tarek Mitri said Lebanon respects the border but still contests part of it, insisting that the fateful cypress tree, while on the Israeli side of the border, “is Lebanese territory.”

Israel was having none of that, charging that the attack was unprovoked aggression.

That would be because it was. But the early stories that came out heavily supported Lebanon’s claim that Israeli forces were over the border. Oh, the next graf almost always issued the Israeli denial, but that’s how journalism works: When you want someone to think your subject is lying, have the paragraph immediately following rebut your subject’s claim. This is what they call “balance.”

In the meantime, as Snoopy pointed out, Lieutenant-Colonel Dov Harari is dead. And Hezbullah got its propaganda story of the month.

But it wasn’t because of a tree. It was because of a planned, deadly attack by anti-Israel forces in Lebanon.

During the summit, Mad Mahmoud called for a Middle East without Zionists (and let us not pretend that when he says Zionists, he doesn’t mean Jews).

In the meantime, Israelis are being mailed new gas masks in case the Axis chooses to use the chemical weapons they’ve been stockpiling. The IDF completed exercises for a two-front war (you may even count on three if the West Bank Palestinians jump in).

As for the rest of the world? Well, the UN General Assembly passed another resolution insisting that Israel respond to the Goldstone report with an “independent” investigation. Australia is so mad that forged passports were used in the Dubai hit that it deliberately didn’t vote against the resolution this time and warned that Israel’s ties with Australia are at risk. (It’s good to know that Australia has its priorities straight.) Spanish schoolteachers are indoctrinating their students with so much hatred for Israel that the Madrid embassy is receiving letters that say “How many Palestinian children have you murdered today?” And the EU released a letter condemning the Dubai hit without mentioning Israel by name, apparently after the heads of European intelligence got through to the political leadership that they are going to badly damage intelligence operations throughout the world if they don’t STFU about Dubai (can’t remember my source on this; link welcome if you read it, too).

Now we read that Hillary Clinton is telling Lebanon that there’s no way the U.S. could stop an Israeli strike on Lebanon if they continue to allow Hezbullah to arm itself. I do believe that the UN Security Council passed a binding resolution (1701) forbidding exactly that. Perhaps she might have mentioned that as the reason for Hezbullah to stop arming itself, instead of using the “I can’t control my crazy friend here” argument. But that would be asking for logic and fairness concerning Israel, which is utterly ridiculous.

Israel’s Axis of Evil continues its mission, unfettered by world opinion, and not impressed by the Obama administration. What could possibly go wrong?

US Vice President Joe Biden promised that Washington will provide the Lebanese army with 42 fighter jets, helicopters, UAVs and tanks, Arab media outlets reported on Saturday.

On Friday Biden concluded a brief one-day visit to Lebanon, during which he met mostly with leaders affiliated with the anti-Syrian camp, including Defense Minister Elias Murr.

Murr said tat the American vice president pledged to have the said weapons delivered to Lebanon, and that the aid package would be given to the country unconditionally, although Biden on Friday said that the aid hinges on the outcome of the upcoming general elections.

How do we know this will end up in Hezbullah’s hands? This is how:

The sources attribute the recent arrests to improved cooperation between Lebanon’s many security agencies, saying that with the help of better-trained personnel and access to more sophisticated equipment, the Internal Security Forces have been intensifying their efforts to uncover espionage networks as part of an attempt to develop a pan-Lebanese image.

[...] The United States has provided $1 billion in aid since 2006, including $410 million in security assistance to the Lebanese military and police.

So yes, great idea, let’s give Lebanon advanced tanks, fighter jets, and military equipment. Because it’s not like they’re going to go to war with Israel again, or are a pawn of the Iranians and Syrians.

Words fail.

A Katyusha barrage was fired Thursday at the Nahariya area in the Western Galilee. Police reported that two people were lightly wounded and evacuated to the local hospital. Several residents were treated for shock.

[...] Residents rushed to take cover in shelters and fortified areas, as children throughout the town were making their way to school.

It’s a typical terrorist tactic. They deliberately aim to kill as many children as possible.

Israel returned fire.

The IDF shelled the areas in southern Lebanon from which Katyusha rockets were fired at Israel’s north Thursday morning. There were no initial reports of injuries.

Military sources estimated that the attack was carried out by a Palestinian organization and not by Hizbullah, in light of the type of rockets used.

It could easily have been Iran’s orders. Hezbullah doesn’t sneeze without asking the mullahs’ permission. And Iranian orders were given yesterday.

A senior Iranian politician met Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus on Wednesday as the Palestinian Islamist group considered an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Ali Larijani, speaker of parliament and one of the major figures in the Islamic Republic, met Mashaal and several high level officials from Hamas at the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, witnesses said.

The meeting stretched into the early hours of Thursday, with no details emerging from the deliberations. Larijani earlier met leaders of Islamic Jihad, a smaller Palestinian group with close links to Iran.

Iran thinks it’s time to up the ante for Israel, since Hamas hasn’t been able to do much against the IDF. It’s not too difficult to make the rocket attack look like it isn’t Hezbullah. But both UNIFIL and the Lebanese army increased border patrols. Yes, there was that incident in December where the Lebanese army defused eight rockets ready to launch at Israel. But I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that this is Hezbullah.

Time will tell.

Or how do you explain these words by the dictator of Syria?

“The Zionist regime is not strong and the states can obtain their rights through resistance and determination,” he added.

During the meeting Assad stressed that the ongoing indirect talks between Israel and Syria under Turkish mediation would not affect Damascus’ ties to Iran. “Syria is working to embolden its relations with Tehran and is determined to maintain its cooperation and coordination with Iran.”

“Resistance,” of course, is the code-word among Arab regimes for war. And Ehud Olmert’s lack of leadership is what has caused Israel’s enemies to say things like this:

“The liberation of all occupied lands, the return of the Palestinian (refugees), the establishment of a Palestinian state and the collapse of the Zionist regime are not considered by the region’s nations to be goals that are unattainable,” the Iranian president said.

Hamas leaders believe this. Hezbullah leaders believe this. Israel’s deterrence was pretty much destroyed in the 2006 failed Lebanon war. Meantime, Hezbullah is now part of the Lebanese government, and it worked quickly to draft new rules allowing it both to retain its weapons and use the government of Lebanon to legitimize its fight against Israel. Hezbullah’s aims are being codified:

“Lebanon, its army, its people and its resistance [Hezbollah] have the right to take action to liberate lands that have remained occupied at the Shaba Farms, the hills of Shuba village and the northern portion of the village of Ghajar, with all legitimate means possible, and to resist Israeli aggression.”

The Shaba farms were never part of Lebanon. They were part of Syria, but Hezbullah uses this excuse to keep its “resistance” against Israel going. And note that now they’re expanding their territorial claims, so that even if Israel gives Lebanon the Shaba farms, Hezbullah will have another reason to continue fighting. And if Israel cedes that land to Lebanon, Hezbullah will come up with another reason. It isn’t small pieces of territory that is the Muslim grievance against Israel. It is her very existence. When Hamas calls “Palestine” an Islamic Waqf, every Muslim in the world nods his head in agreement, whether they are gun-carrying terrorists of Hamas or educated men discussing the Israel situation on Al Jazeera. It isn’t a matter of ceding territory. There will never be peace as long as Muslims think that Jews do not belong in their historic homeland—and as long as the world insists on calling Israelis “settlers” or “colonials.” I am once again struck by the absolute adherence to The Exception Clause that is so evident in the world: Everyone has the right to return to the lands of their origin—except for Jews.

And this mindset is what allows the very president of Lebanon to call war with Israel “legitimate:”

Suleiman announced Friday, during an address for Army Day, that “the countdown for the restoration of the Shaba farms and the hills of Shuba village has begun … all means are possible and legitimate to this end.”

The drumbeats of war are getting louder. I don’t believe the stories about peace with Syria. Bashar Assad has too much to gain from staying in Iran’s axis. And while it would be extremely valuable to remove the Syrian threat, I don’t think it will be gone. I think that Syria’s army will simply bombard Israel from the Heights again, while Hezbullah and Hamas attack from two sides.

I certainly hope Israel chooses a better leader, and does it soon. She needs one.

Hizbullah has returned to its original demand that Israel release not only several Lebanese prisoners but also hundreds of Palestinian ones in exchange for kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Ynet has learned.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s specially appointed envoy overseeing MIA affairs, Ofer Dekel, heard the renewed stipulation at a meeting with German mediator Gerhard Conrad in Berlin last week.

And why not? Israel is ignoring the fact that Hamas is using the truce to rearm and regroup, showing Hizbullah that Ehud Olmert will agree to just about anything these days. He’s offering the Golan to Syria and allowing the U.S. and the UN to ignore the UN-agreed-to Shebaa Farms border. So why would Nasrallah think that he needs to actually deal in good faith with Israel? No one else is.

The prime minister vehemently rejected the renewed demand. Israel has repeatedly said it would not consider including Palestinian prisoners in a deal for Regev and Goldwasser under any circumstances. Hizbullah is insisting on the clause to solidify its standing in the Arab world as patrons of the Palestinian cause.

Sure. And a few weeks ago, Olmert vehemently objected to any truce that didn’t include Gilad Shalit’s freedom. Just wait. He’ll cave on this, too. He’s currently threatening to fire all of his cabinet ministers who vote to dissolve the government this week. It remains to be seen if his ministers care more about Israel than they do for their own positions. I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

The Labor ministers left the government meeting in order to confer with Labor Chairman Ehud Barak. One of the ministers who witnessed
the scene told Ynet that “The Labor ministers were seriously spooked and immediately left to ask Barak what they should do. The prime minister has proven to them that they won’t be able to keep their jobs while undermining the government.”

Let him fire you, morons. You’ll only be out of work for as long as it takes to complete new elections.

Barak told his ministers that they must hold their ground and vote for the dissolution of the Knesset in view of the multiple police investigations held against Olmert.

Labor announced last week that it intends to back the future motion of dissolution, although given the choice it would “opt for governmental stability rather than new general elections”.

Translation: Polls show a Labor defeat, so we won’t call for elections yet.

I simply can’t get a handle on why Israeli politicians suck so much, and then I take a look around at American politicians, and I go, “Oh.”