IRAN AND SYRIA MOVE TO SURROUND ISRAEL

Analysis: Hoping the ripples reach Teheran By HERB KEINON (JPost)
On each front Israel is facing one of Iran's proxies - Hamas in the south; Hizbullah in the north.

Al-Aqsa leader: West Bank rocket war is on (YNet)
While Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip have been contending with almost daily missile attacks, Palestinian rockets will now be launched regularly on other side of the country aimed at Jewish communities a few miles from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Abu Oudai, a chief rocket coordinator for the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview.

Battle Plans By Yossi Klein Halevi
The next Middle East war — Israel against genocidal Islamism — has begun. The first stage of the war started two weeks ago, with the Israeli incursion into Gaza in response to the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and the ongoing shelling of Israeli towns and kibbutzim; now, with Hezbollah's latest attack, the war has spread to southern Lebanon. Ultimately, though, Israel's antagonists won't be Hamas and Hezbollah but their patrons, Iran and Syria. The war will go on for months, perhaps several years. There may be lulls in the fighting, perhaps even temporary agreements and prisoner exchanges. But those periods of calm will be mere respites.

Israel Faces Regional Challenge - Steven Erlanger
For Israel the problem is regional, not local - of Hamas, as a part of the regional Muslim Brotherhood, and of Iran, a serious regional power with considerable influence on Syria, Hizballah, Islamic Jihad, and the military wing of Hamas. An Arab intelligence officer working in a country neighboring Israel said it appeared that Iran - through Hizballah - had given support to Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal to stage the seizure of Cpl. Shalit. Israeli intelligence officers also believe Iran is acting through Hizballah and Mashaal. Former Israeli ambassador to Washington Itamar Rabinovich sees Iran "on a roll, looking for regional hegemony." Even without nuclear weapons, Iran is acquiring considerable influence in Lebanon, in Syria, and with the Palestinians, not to speak of Iraq. "It can directly operate Hizballah in southern Lebanon through Syria, and with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the territories it can detonate the situation whenever it wants." Gerald M. Steinberg of Bar-Ilan University noted, "Israel is in a long-term operation to reassert security control." (New York Times)

See also Iran, Syria Use Lebanese Hizballah Militia - Dalal Saoud and Claude Salhani (UPI)

See also The Same War by Michael Ledeen (NRO)