Israeli Commander: Invasion of Lebanon Would Mean ‘Lasting Calm’

Insists Israel Ready for Another Invasion of Neighbor

The commander of Israel’s Nahal Brigade, Col. Yehuda Fuchs, gave a press conference today in which he pushed for an invasion of neighboring Lebanon, insisting his brigade is “ready” for a ground invasion and would mean a “lasting calm” along the border.

Israel already has a lot on its plate, having just gotten done attacking Syria and openly talking about invading Syrian territory, threatening to attack Iran (as always) and talking up the risk of protests in the occupied West Bank. Still, that doesn’t rule out their leadership starting yet another war.

Israel hasn’t invaded Lebanon since summer of 2006, which is considered by many an unusually long gap between incursions. Officials have repeatedly talked up another invasion, claiming the last one worked so well that there is no reason not to launch another.

Israeli Brigadier General Hertzi Halevy predicted such a war a few months ago, saying that it would include “enormous” amounts of damage and direct targeting of Lebanese population centers.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.