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Oct. 26, 2007
Threats in the Middle East
Senior IDF officer talks to students about Israel's security.
BLAKE SIFTON
An Israeli Defence Forces brigadier general outlined and explained
the security threats facing the state of Israel in a speech to a
politically divided audience at the University of British Columbia's
Graduate Students Centre on Friday Oct. 19.
Hosted by the Israeli Awareness Club, with assistance provided by
UBC Hillel, the event was intended to, "promote a robust debate
and allow people to ask the difficult questions," according
to Jeff Bradshaw, the managing director of programming at UBC Hillel.
The IDF brigadier general in charge of strategic planning, D. (name
withheld), described the security threats presented by the Islamist
organizations Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as the support given
to these groups by Iran, and the potential threat posed by that
country's nuclear ambitions.
D. described Hezbollah's efforts to regenerate strength since the
Second Lebanon War, and explained that while training facilities
and other strategic infrastructure are still being rebuilt, the
militant group has successfully rearmed, despite the presence of
the Lebanese army and UNIFIL in southern Lebanon. "Every day
they get more anti-tank weapons and surface-to-surface rockets,"
said D. "They have replenished their stocks to prewar levels
and in some cases have now gained better quality rockets than they
had before."
While the general said that he had thought Hamas could be reformed,
he now views Fatah as the only viable negotiating partner. Having
initially supported the disengagement from Gaza, he said he views
the presence of the IDF in the West Bank as pivotal to the continued
survival of Fatah. D. described the IDF counterinsurgency operations
in the West Bank as Israel's way of, "constantly cutting the
grass, constantly dismantling the terrorist networks to prevent
Hamas from taking over."
Citing the decreasing influence of the United States in the Middle
East, since the invasion of Iraq, D. strongly expressed his belief
in the need for Israel to defend itself. "Iran is on the nuclear
path and no one is going to stop them.... We need to protect ourselves
and rely on ourselves."
While the general stressed the importance of listening carefully
to what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says regarding Israel,
he made light of a recent statement in which the president suggested
Israel relocate to Alaska or Canada: "Someone asked me if I
was going to Canada to see if there was enough room for us here,"
he joked.
Throughout the speech, D. presented the strategic situation in the
Middle East as being one of radicals versus moderates. He argued
that Hezbollah and Hamas, and their backers in Iran and Syria, comprise
the ranks of the radicals, while the Fatah movement, along with
Jordan and Egypt, were identified as moderates.
D. stressed the need to support the moderates, lest the radicals
continue to gain strength. "The radicals are gaining power
and they are under the impression that they are winning", said
D. "The moderates feel that they don't have enough power to
deal with the new reality. It's very important that we join and
help them."
However, while he advocated greater help for the region's moderates,
the general derided them for avoiding their responsibilities by
linking other issues to the difficult matter of establishing a Palestinian
state. "Is Iran's nuclear program connected to the Palestinians?
Not at all.... Is there a connection between instability in Iraq
and the Palestinians? Not at all. By drawing these connections,
the moderates are able to avoid doing anything productive in the
Middle East."
The audience was far from unanimous in political opinion. Several
individuals used noisemakers to disrupt the officer's speech each
time the he used the word "terrorist" and he was asked
several pointed questions by audience members during the question
and answer portion of the event.
One young woman asked the general if he considered the bombing of
a Gaza power station by the Israel air force in the summer of 2006
to be a war crime. D. answered that since the power station provided
electricity for the manufacture of rockets by Hamas and other groups,
it was a legitimate target. He then qualified his statement, acknowledging
that the issue was contentious: "If you target infrastructure
in order to punish a population, than yes, that would be a war crime."
D. also fielded several questions critical of Israeli tactics in
the Second Lebanon War. He defended the use of cluster bombs and
the targeting of bridges and roads in southern Lebanon as the most
effective ways of combating the danger posed by Hezbollah's Katyusha
rockets. "Threats arise from a combination of intentions and
capabilities," he said. "We can't change Hezbollah's intentions,
so we had to destroy their capabilities."
As the critical questions increased and tensions escalated, D. stated
firmly, "We don't undertake actions to get good points with
you or with the international community - we act to protect our
citizens."
While several RCMP officers were on hand at the event, conflict
between the supporters and detractors of IDF/IAF policy was limited
to heated verbal exchanges and a few insults.
Sam Heller, the president of UBC Hillel, explained the group's outlook
on the contentious nature of the event. "We expected this kind
of debate," he said, "but there is a difference between
asking a valid question and contributing to the dialogue, and disrupting
someone's speech."
Blake Sifton is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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