Less than three weeks before the Lebanese parliamentary elections, Israel is stirring up trouble from the south. Israel has announced that it will be conducting large scale military training maneuvers the week before the Lebanese elections. Also, a network of Israeli spies has been slowly uncovered in Lebanon over the past few weeks.
To date, 18 alleged spies have been discovered in Lebanon, including a variety of people from an army general to a disabled man and his family. The spies face life in prison and could face the death penalty if it can be proven that the information given to Israel resulted in the loss of Lebanese lives.
In an embarrassed response to the exposure of the spy ring, Israel has countered that Iran and Hizballah have attempted recruit spies in Israel using email and Facebook, claiming that its has arrested “several spies over the last few years”, although nothing nearing the magnitude of Israel’s operations in Lebanon has been announced.
Hizballah leadership has said publicly that the discovery of the spies is an indication of Israel’s weakened hand in Lebanon, however this may not be the case. Mossad is one of the most prolific spy organizations in the world, and it is unlikely that even the majority of the spies in Lebanon have been discovered. It is wishful thinking on the part of the Lebanese that the plot has been foiled and that Israel will discontinue it’s operations in Lebanon.
Inside Israel, the military has announced it will be conducting training operations over the week before the Lebanese elections. The planned maneuvers are also taking place shortly before the national elections in Iran, indicating that the timing if the operation is not coincidental. It is likely a message to Hizballah and Iran that no matter the outcome of their elections, Israel will not slack in its preparedness.
On Hizballah’s al-Manar television, Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah stated that he believed there were four possible reasons for the training maneuvers: to rebuild trust between the military and community; because it is concerned with its national security; as a display of force to show that Israel is not divided; or that Israel is training and planning for its next surprise war. More likely, it is a combination of all four.
In 2006, Israel attacked Lebanon in a brief war that greatly damaged the country. Israeli forces were eventually repelled by Hizballah, which significantly increased the groups profile in the Middle East.
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