Aug. 14, 2006
 
NEWS ANALYSIS: Arabs, Israelis Unhappy with UN Resolution 1701
 
By Jim Kouri
Special to Huntington News Network
 
The Arab League and Israeli lawmakers are already complaining about the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
 
The controversial resolution calls for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, but doesn't single out Israel as the primary aggressor, which was being pushed by Arab leaders. Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Ahmed bin Heli told the AP, "The resolution is the best that can be achieved in the meantime under the unbalanced international equation."
 
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said several Arab and Muslim countries will continue to insist upon investigations into alleged Israeli "massacres" in Lebanon.
 
In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is coming under attack for his alleged mishandling of the war. Israel's left, right and center are vocally lamenting Israel's inability to accomplish even one of its military objectives, including the cessation of Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israeli cities such as Haifa.
 
One respected lawmaker, Zvi Hendel, is quoted by The Jerusalem Post as saying that when voting on whether or not to accept the resolution, Israel's cabinet ministers should take into account Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah's "satisfaction with the cease-fire to understand how bad it is for Israel."
 
The Post also quotes Former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom as saying,"If we would have known that this would be of the result of the war no one would have supported it. Just last month Olmert called UNIFIL worthless pensioners and now they are being entrusted with protecting our country."
 
Prominent leftist commentator Ari Shavit wrote in Ha'aretz that Olmert "cannot lead an entire nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power."
 
"You cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters for a month, wear down deterrent power, bring the next war very close and then say - 'Oops, I made a mistake,'" added Shavit.
 
Middle East observers say that Israel's main weapon in the region was the illusion that they were an invincible power to reckon with. The willingness to accept a cease-fire agreement that basically does little to guarantee Israeli security is a defeat for Israel, they say.
 
There are many who believe that Iran will continue arming Hezbollah in order to fight it's war by proxy against Israel and it's primary ally, the United States. The terrorist group was able to stockpile weapons shipped from Iran and Syria without even an attempt at constraint by the UN peacekeepers and there are no indications these weapons tranfers will stop.
 
In addition, Prime Minister Olmert -- reiterating Israeli intelligence reports -- claims that the Lebanese military, who will work with the UN peacekeepers on the Israel-Lebanon border, is being commanded by Iranian officers. During the heat of battle, Israeli soldiers discovered members of the Iranian Republican Guard among the Hezbollah dead in southern Lebanon.
 
Critics of Olmert say his biggest error is allowing an air force general to command the ground attack. It basically took 30 days for the Israelis to forcefully enter Lebanon with tanks and large numbers of ground troops, while rockets hailed on Israeli civilians who were confined to bomb shelters.
 
After a month of national unity in Israel for destroying Hezbollah and their stranglehold on Lebanon, Olmert will face efforts to topple his government by opponents on the left and right of the political spectrum.
 
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Jim Kouri is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. Kouri has appeared as on-air commentator for more than 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book "Assume The Position" is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.U.S.