Of all the jihad and terrorist organizations, in the entire world Hezbollah was the largest and strongest of them all - a terrorist organization that had a country.
This was supposed to be Iran's punch against any Israeli contemplation of striking the Iranian nuclear program. And we must admit that in recent years we have looked with increasing concern at the strengthening of Hezbollah, and we have not dared to try to attack the strongholds of the organization so as not to wake the beast.
So Nasrallah gained confidence. He provoked Israel with repeated violations of UN Resolution 1701, with armed terrorists located meters from the border, by erecting a tent on Israeli territory with the Hezbollah flag flying over it, and above all with a massive array of fortifications, tunnels, armaments and a massive military force.
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Israeli troops on the border with Lebanon after the cease-fire went into effect
(Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters )
Israel's concern was justified. It is not just the Radwan force, which could have caused a massacre against the northern communities a hundred times greater than the October 7th massacre in the south. The "Hezbollah Report", which can also be called the "Terror Report", clarified the serious threat posed by Hezbollah. The report is a summary of the work of about a hundred experts, led by Professor Boaz Ganor, which was published and presented shortly before October 7. It was an assessment loaded with data, about what Israel could expect, including thousands of long-range rockets every day, paralysis of health, energy and transportation infrastructures and more.
Everything written about Hezbollah's potential was accurate. It's worth recalling that report to understand that, even though Israel has been hit by missile barrages every day for the past year, the IDF has achieved unprecedented achievements. Hezbollah waited with its potential for damage, and contented itself with significant harassment. It can be assumed that this was the instruction from Iran, which wanted to save the strategic blow for a moment that suited it.
But this did not happen. Israel was ahead of Iran and Hezbollah, with the pager operation, with the massive bombings of missile and rocket depots, and with the elimination of Nasrallah and the top leaders of the terror organization.
Commander of the 146th Division, Brigadier General Yiftach Norkin visits troops in southern Lebanon
(צילום: דובר צה"ל)
Hezbollah supporters have been shooting fireworks since Wednesday. It is a display of a so-called "victory," following the cease-fire agreement, but the celebrants know perfectly well that they have suffered a fatal blow. They still have rockets. They still have weapons in southern Lebanon. The IDF did not reach every apartment in every village that was stockpiling weapons, nor every missile depot. But the elimination of the top of the organization, and the destruction of 70% of the missile stockpile led Hezbollah to withdraw from its main condition, a cease-fire in the north only after the fighting in Gaza ends.
It might have been possible to continue hitting Hezbollah, as many claim, and not just the residents of the north. But the political, economic and military cost was much higher than the benefit. Has Israel surrendered to an American ultimatum? According to a statement released by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the Obama-Biden administration - as he calls it - has pursued a conciliatory policy toward the axis of evil. Instead of putting pressure on Iran, pressure was put on Israel, including an explicit threat of an arms embargo. Time will tell if Cruz is right. And yet, Cruz also admits that Israel comes out of this conflict much stronger and Hezbollah has folded after a heavy blow.
Israel followed a lax policy from the moment the violations of Resolution 1701 began, already a decade and a half ago. This is exactly what intensified the threat facing Israel from the north. What was in the past could not last.
The first violations already began on Wednesday, with an influx of Lebanese, mainly Shiites, some of whom may be Hezbollah members, to the southern Lebanese villages. Four Hezbollah members have already been arrested. Others were deterred with shots fired into the air.
We did not deal a heavy blow to Hezbollah, and we did not reach a cease-fire in order to return to what was. The pattern of relations between Israel and Hezbollah will be determined in these hours and days. And if Israel does not make it clear that the games are over - and they are not going back to the past - Hezbollah may realize that it is allowed to continue.
The achievements of the IDF are tremendous. They must not be overstated. Israel is in a position of strength. We lost this strength once because of a conciliatory approach. It must not happen again.