Poisonous quiet on Israel-Lebanon border

Op-ed: Hezbollah has exploited the years of calm on the northern border to prepare for the next war, and the discovery of terror tunnels along the border doesn't provide a solution to thousands of Hezbollah missiles already aimed at central Israel.

Shimon Shiffer|Published: 12.10.18 , 15:16

Big Ben, one of the most iconic symbols not only of London but perhaps of the British democracy as a whole, is now surrounded by scaffolding. The famous landmark, situated alongside the Parliament building, signals to many tourists and locals the depth of the crisis experienced by the government of Prime Minister Theresa May, who is most likely on her way out after she failed to win the confidence of the House of Commons, which is expected to reject the Brexit deal she negotiated.

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More than one hundred of May’s colleagues from the the Conservative Party have already announced that they will vote against the agreement reached with the European Union in Brussels.

UNIFIL force along Israel-Lebanon border (Photo: AFP)

I write about this with much jealousy, because Israeli elected officials, unlike their British counterparts, follow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu like a herd. Take, for example, what is happening in Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon. More than 100,000 rockets and missiles are aimed and ready to be launched at targets in central Israel. Has any of our ministers said anything on the matter? No, not a single one.

In recent years, Netanyahu has enjoyed the longest period of quiet on the northern border, but this quiet was a poisonous one, because it was exploited by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his Iranian allies to build up a huge arsenal of weapons.

Netanyahu prefers to have our security policy vis-à-vis Hezbollah, just like in Gaza, based on the formula of quiet for quiet. The problem with this philosophy is that the missiles didn’t really rust, as former defense minister Moshe Ya'alon once claimed they would.

Last week, Hezbollah terror tunnels along the border with Lebanon have been exposed with pomp and circumstance. Netanyahu took part in a photo-op and gave an impassioned speech, while we are still left with the same threat.

Perhaps the time has come to hold a public debate on pressing national security issues the same way the British do? Perhaps it is time for our leader to give us a detailed account of his positions? And perhaps, most importantly, it’s time we heard from our politicians, from those who have ambitions to replace Netanyahu one day. What do they think about the missiles aimed at us and could be launched at any moment?