Transcript
SUMMARY: The Saban Center for Middle East Policy held a policy briefing on September 6, 2006 to analyze the after-effects of the military conflict between Israel and Hizballah. Nahum Barnea, Saban Center Kreiz Visiting Fellow and Senior Political Analyst of Yediot Aharonot (Israel), who had been reporting from Israel and Lebanon during the crisis, gave the Israeli perspective. Hisham Milhem, Washington Correspondent for An-Nahar (Lebanon), provided the Lebanese perspective. Carlos Pascual, Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, commented on the reconstruction efforts, and Martin Indyk, Director of the Saban Center, presented policy options for the United States. Kenneth M. Pollack, the Saban Center's Director of Research, moderated.
Barnea began by recounting conversations he had had with Israeli reservists called up to serve during the war. He said that many were frustrated with the lack of supplies and clear military objectives, which led them to lodge public complaints after the war. However, Barnea argued that unlike the unrest that followed the 1973 Yom Kippur War, these current protests will have only meager operational consequences. The reason, Barnea argued, is that there is a sense in Israel that the defense establishment and the government are in such disarray that they are not capable of responding to complaints. Many Israelis also regard the state's handling of those areas in Israel affected by the Hizballah rockets as inadequate. The consequence of these inadequate state responses has been to create a political crisis in Israel. This political crisis, Barnea said, will lead to either a dramatic change in the government or in a profound change in the way that Israelis view their government.
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