Hezbollah says its war with Israel was a mistake
The Washington Times ^ | August 28, 2006 | Joshua Mitnick
washingtontimes.com
TEL AVIV -- Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said yesterday that he would not have ordered the July 12 seizure of two Israeli soldiers had he known it would provoke a war that leveled Shi'ite villages and neighborhoods throughout Lebanon.
"We did not think, even 1 percent, that the capture would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude. You ask me, if I had known on July 11 ... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not," he told Lebanon's New TV station.
The sheik also said that officials from the United Nations and Italy were attempting to negotiate an exchange of the Israeli soldiers for Arabs held in Israeli jails. Israel denied involvement in any prisoner-exchange talks.
In addition, Sheik Nasrallah said Hezbollah would not oppose the deployment of thousands of U.N. peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon.
His comments confirm weeks of speculation in Israel that Hezbollah was surprised by Israel's military response to the July 12 capture.
Since the Aug. 14 cease-fire, Sheik Nasrallah has declared a victory in the war, and he has become a hero throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
But yesterday's admission of a serious miscalculation reflects a need to shore up domestic support for Hezbollah and deflect criticism for starting the war, Israeli analysts said.
"It means that [Sheik Nasrallah] needs to settle the score in the Lebanese domestic arena," said Oded Granot, the Middle East affairs commentator on Israel's public-run Channel 1 news station. "[He] needs to provide welfare for the residents of the south, and he needs to rehabilitate his standing." |
