Put Yourself In Their Shoes

Israel is a very small country with a very small population. It has nomilitary depth. It has to follow a policy of instant and forceful retaliationagainst terrorists and States such as Iran and Syria using terrorism as a weaponto make its population bleed. Israel has to retaliate instantly or perish. Thishas to be kept in mind while judging Israel's action in taking its fight againstterrorism to the Lebanese territory. Israel had no other option, but to do whatit has done.

The Hezbollah, which raided Israeli territory from its sanctuaries in theLebanon, and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers on July 12, 2006, is the surrogateof the intelligence agencies of Iran and Syria just as the Lashkar-e-Toiba, theHarkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad(JEM) are the surrogates of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). WhatIsrael has been facing--- not since July 12, 2006, but ever since the IslamicRevolutionaries captured power in Teheran in 1979--- is a proxy war being wagedagainst it by the Iranian intelligence---supported by the Syrian intelligence---by using various surrogates.

Israel has as much right  to act against the intelligence agencies ofIran and Syria and their surrogates as India has to act against the ISI and itssurrogates. Iran chose the present moment to use the Hezbollah against Israel todivert world attention from its military nuclear programme and to pre-empt thepossibility of a strike against the Iranian nuclear establishments by the USand/or Israel----acting separately or in tandem.

Israel cannot be accused of using disproportionate force against thesanctuaries and rocket bases of the Hezbollah in the Lebanese territory. Whenthe terrorists operate in one's own territory as the Maoists have been doing inour territory, one can use carefully calibrated force so that the force used isnot more than necessary.

When the terrorists operate against you from sanctuaries in the territory ofanother state, it is not possible to calibrate the use of force so carefully.There could be occasions when after a specific incident, the force used may seemmore than what was required by the circumstances of the incident. This cannot becalled intentional use of disproportionate force.

Israel faces a particularly difficult situation in the Lebanon. Theterrorists of the Hezbollah operate from the midst of the civilian population.Their rockets are fired at the populated areas of Israel from rocket launchersconcealed in heavily-populated areas. In the face of this, Israel faces a cruelchoice-----either leave its own civilian population unprotected due to fears ofcausing civilian casualties in the Lebanese territory or put theserocket-launchers out of action even at the risk of causing some civiliancasualties. The primary responsibility of any State is to protect its ownpopulation. One cannot blame the State of Israel for exercising thisresponsibility. No State worth its salt can and should shirk exercising thisresponsibility.

One has to understand the compulsions behind Israel's actions--- particularlywe in India who often face similar situations in our Jammu & Kashmir(J&K), where Pakistan-sponsored jihadi terrorists open fire on our securityforces from inside civilian population in order to confront our security forceswith a similar cruel choice.

The Iranian intelligence has been increasingly playing a dangerous game----it has been arming and instigating different Shia militia groups to keep the potboiling in Iraq; it has been adding to the instability in Afghanistan by helpingelements opposed to the Government of Hamid Karzai; and it has been arming andadvising the Hezbollah in order to destabilise the Lebanon and make the Israelisbleed. There has been one objective behind all these actions----to keep the USand Israeli forces bleeding and preoccupied in the hope of thereby reducing thechances of a military strike against its nuclear establishments.

The Hezbollah, instigated by Iran, created the present situation. If theinternational community has to win the war against terrorism, it has to see thatthe present situation culminates not in a compromise which would furtherincrease jihadi terrorism, but in the destruction of the military and terrorismcapabilities of the Hezbollah. The Lebanon has its own army, which has to bemodernised and strengthened. The Hezbollah has no business to have an army ofits own in the Lebanese territory.

The end of the Hezbollah is only one part of the solution. The other is toput an end to Iran's use of terrorism as a weapon to achieve its strategicobjectives.

An outcome of the traumatic experience of 9/11 was a realisation by thecivilised nations of the world that terrorism and State-sponsors of terrorismpose a serious threat to international peace and security. The civilianpopulation continues to bleed in India, Afghanistan, Israel, the Lebanon andIraq due to the activities of three recalcitrant State-sponsors ofterrorism---Pakistan, Iran and Syria--- and their surrogates. The internationalcommunity should unite to deal with them effectively.

This is not the time to criticise Israel. This is the time to help Israel toget over its ordeal----once and for all.  At a time when we grieve over thedeaths of hundreds of our nationals  at the hands of Pakistan-sponsoredjihadi terrorists, let us share the grief of Israel too over the deaths of itsnationals at the hands of the Hezbollah and other jihadi terrorists sponsored byIran and Syria. If our anger against Pakistan and its surrogates is justified,so is Israel's anger against Iran, Syria and their surrogates.

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. ofIndia, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies,Chennai.)