JULY 2000, pages 10, 78

Israeli Media Watch I

Israeli Media Reflect Profound Shock and Pessimism Over Chaotic Lebanon Retreat

By Nathan Jones

Americans have seen and read far less about the abrupt and chaotic Israeli withdrawal under fire from Lebanon than have either Europeans or Middle Easterners. Therefore the triumphal and exuberant reactions in the Middle East and the angry or deeply despairing reactions within Israel have passed largely unnoticed, even among the minority of Americans who follow Middle East events at all.

It’s possible, however, that the full apocalyptic depth of shock and concern being expressed by Israeli commentators may also not be fully understood by the public in Arab and other Muslim countries. Of course Israeli editorial reaction is to a large extent dictated by internal politics. Therefore, supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak compare the withdrawal to the helicopter-borne final American exodus from Vietnam, calling it humiliating but necessary for the long-term survival of Israel, and suggesting it may prepare the Israeli public for a serious land-for-peace settlement with the Palestinians.

Hard-line Barak critics and an amazing number of Jewish nationalist commentators, however, seem both deeply shocked and deeply frightened. Whether they depict the Lebanon withdrawal as Israel’s first battlefield defeat, or its second defeat after the Palestinian intifada, they are deeply pessimistic about its long-term effect on Israeli confidence and even physical survival in a hostile region.

“Israelis used to believe that the Arabs understand no other language than naked force,” wrote conservative analyst Yossi Olmert in the May 30 issue of the mass circulation Yediot Ahronot of Tel Aviv. “Lately it has become clear that, if anything, this applies instead to the Israelis themselves…Israel would not have gone to Madrid had there not been the Palestinian intifada. Prime Minister Rabin would not have gone to Oslo without Palestinian terror. And Israel would not have left Lebanon, tail between its legs, if not for the successful terror operations of Hezbollah…Israel has been afflicted with a general national malaise and our enemies know it.”

On the previous day senior analyst Sever Plotker wrote a more positive assessment in the same newspaper: “We may not want to admit it, but Israel was beaten in Lebanon as the Americans were defeated in Vietnam. Still, we did well to get out, simply in order to cut our losses and put an end to the agony. By getting the Israel Defense Forces out unconditionally, Prime Minister Barak…has set the ‘Lebanon rule,’ under which Israel will not stick to any territory that does not contribute to Israel’s national security. According to this new Barak rule, peace need not precede but, rather, may follow evacuation of land. Under Barak’s plan, Israel is going to have permanent agreements with all its neighbors at the price of some 98 percent of the land it took in the 1967 war.”

“Some rather unpleasant surprises may await us down the road.”

Other Israeli media assessments dwelt on the long-term effects on Israeli society. Wrote the popular, pluralist Ma’ariv in its May 29 lead editorial: “‘With all its nuclear arsenal and military might, Israel is weaker than the filaments of a spider’s web,’ said Hezbollah leader Sheikh Nasrallah. His words burned into the hearts of many Israelis, who fear that he was reading accurately the strength of our society and that he was expressing the sentiments of many Arabs. The observation of the Syrian foreign minister that the way the IDF was made to pull out of Lebanon showed the Arabs how to handle the Israelis on other fronts indicates that some rather unpleasant surprises may await us down the road. The Lebanon withdrawal should make us look inward and examine ourselves. Are we really a paper tiger? History books are full of examples of mighty nations which perished because of inner weakness and moral disintegration. Our society is beset by very serious problems which affect our survivability in a region that has not yet learned to accept us.”

A similar note was struck by analyst David Weinberg May 29 in the conservative Jerusalem Post: “Israel illustrated for the entire Arab world and global leaders beyond just how pathetically weak we are. We didn’t ‘withdraw’ from Lebanon. We fled in haste, fearing for our lives, in a state of military collapse…Despite the ‘credit’ owed Prime Minister Barak for keeping his word about leaving Lebanon, Israel’s deterrent posture in the Middle East inevitably has been weakened. Of course the pitiful course of events in Lebanon sets a pattern for our next ‘withdrawals’ in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Orwell Revisited

On May 26 nationalist analyst Meir Lifshitz predicted in Ma’ariv: “Soon they will try to convince us that the panicky retreat of the Israeli army from Lebanon was a tremendous Zionist accomplishment. In less than 24 hours we managed to fold our flags and leave the residents of the north to the mercy of Hezbollah…Hurrah! We’re done with the Lebanese ‘tragedy’ and are ready for the final chapter of the Palestinian drama [but] the Palestinians do not operate in some godforsaken place in the far north but right here at home and even on our streets. Get ready for exciting scenes of blood and fire.”

The nationalist Hatzofe daily editorialized on May 26: “Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh noted that the IDF’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon was not due to its casualties, but to the lack of stamina on the part of Israeli society…Hostile Palestinians may now conclude that the way to operate in Judea and Samaria is by copying Hezbollah’s terror activities. Recent riots in those districts were only a foretaste of what might happen in the next stages of the ‘peace process.’”

Two days earlier, on May 24, Hatzofe had been more despairing than angry when it editorialized: “The State of Israel woke up yesterday and was ashamed to look in the mirror. The rout in Lebanon was one of the most shameful events in our history. A large system built over more than two decades has collapsed overnight. Repeating their behavior in the early days of the Palestinian intifada, our troops fled under cover of darkness. It did not have to happen. It was no unavoidable natural calamity. And while Israelis in ever-larger numbers are feeling that the country is coming apart at the seams, our leaders behave smugly, as though nothing could be more normal. We are being beaten on all fronts—from Lebanon to Jerusalem—and the government acts as though we have just returned from some hilarious party.”

Liberal analyst Ben-Dror Yemini was even more pessimistic, if possible, than the nationalist editorial writer quoted above when he wrote on May 24 in Ma’ariv: “In the Middle East, where national honor counts a lot, Israel has lost whatever remained of hers. It is true that in the name of national honor we over the years committed too many stupid sins. Still, national honor boils down to strategic deterrence. Israel is wrecking its own deterrence capabilities. Israel has proved that it has no staying power, no endurance; that its policies are controlled by shifting moods, and that it lacks even a single drop of stability.”

In a despairing commentary written right after the Israeli withdrawal turned into a rout, analyst Sever Plotker, quoted above, wrote in the May 23 Yediot Ahronot: “The collective conscience of a whole generation of Americans was shaped by the Vietnam trauma. Likewise, yesterday’s sights in south Lebanon are going to haunt us for years. The IDF is leaving Lebanon empty-handed, with no agreements, understandings, or arrangements. Our super-sophisticated army was defeated by determined Hezbollah fighters. The most skilled and modern army in the Middle East could not beat a handful of religious fanatics.”

SIDEBAR

The Israeli Media Watch columns presented in every issue of the Washington Report are based upon a same-day e-mail transmission of a daily Israeli media roundup. Now for the first time this media roundup is available to the public. See the advertisement on p. xx for details.

Nathan Jones is a free-lance writer specializing in Israeli and North American Jewish affairs.