HEZBOLLAH MISJUDGED ISRAELI RESOLVE

Hizballah's Mistakes - Moshe Elad
Nasrallah believed Israel was afraid to engage him in light of the ongoing threat of long-range missiles at Israeli cities. He was wrong. Nasrallah believed that if Israel does attack, it will do so with ground forces - and that's what he prepared for. Nasrallah miscalculated the Israeli public's staying power. Judging by a previous prisoner swap in which Israel released hundreds of prisoners in response for a kidnapped civilian and the bodies of three dead soldiers, Nasrallah figured Israelis would pester their government for a hostage-swap. He doesn't understand that he is the last person Israel is going to make a deal with. It's been many years since the Israeli public supported a war so broadly against an enemy who "deserves it." Brig.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Elad is a researcher at the Shmuel Neeman Institute at the Technion. (Ynet News)

Prime Minister Olmert: "This Is a National Moment of Truth" (Prime Minister's Office)
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addressed the Knesset on Monday:

• Over the past few weeks, our enemies have challenged the sovereignty of the State of Israel and the safety of its residents - first in the southern sector, then on the northern border, and deeper into the home front.
• Israel did not seek these confrontations. On the contrary. We have done a lot to prevent them. We returned to the borders of the State of Israel, recognized by the entire international community. There were those who misconstrued our desire for peace as a sign of frailty. Our enemies misinterpreted our willingness to exercise restraint as a sign of weakness. They were wrong.
• The campaign we are engaged in these days is against the terror organizations operating from Lebanon and Gaza. These organizations are nothing but "subcontractors" operating under the inspiration, permission, instigation, and financing of the terror-sponsoring and peace-rejecting regimes in Tehran and Damascus.
• On the Palestinian front, we will conduct a tireless battle until terror ceases, Gilad Shalit is returned home safely, and the shooting of Kassam missiles stops.
• In Lebanon, we will insist on compliance with the terms stipulated by the international community: (1) The return of the hostages, Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev;
  A complete cease fire; (2) Deployment of the Lebanese army in all of southern Lebanon; (3) Expulsion of Hizballah from the area, and fulfillment of UN Resolution 1559.
• We are at a national moment of truth. Israel will not be held hostage - not by terror gangs or by a terrorist authority or by any sovereign state.

Text of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 (United Nations)

Resolution 1559 of September 2, 2004, calls for "the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias" and supports "the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory."