Israel must target civilian infrastructure in Lebanon to pressure Hezbollah, IDSF head says

Israel Defense and Security Forum CEO Lt. Col. (res.) Yaron Buskila spoke recently with Yoav Minitz on Radio North 104.5FM and referred to the future of the conflict with the terrorist organization Hezbollah on the northern border.

Buskila stated, "The North is facing the issue of UAVs, which seems like a kind of Russian roulette. How can the security system deal with this.

"To explain why occasionally there are no sirens, Hezbollah learned to operate with UAVs at a low altitude close to the ground. Because of this, the UAV is not identified, and Hezbollah manages to operate them and attack before the Israeli detection and identification system operates. This has become a challenge for us, but we continue to face Hezbollah as we have in recent years in a symmetrical manner. For every attack they launch at us, we retaliate proportionally.

"This is not how to deal with a terror organization, certainly not at this stage. Hezbollah understands that we are in negotiations over the hostages, and they want to pressure the State of Israel. We must not play into their hands. This is exactly the time to take action against Hezbollah and Lebanon as a country and attack civilian infrastructures. Hezbollah is also subject to social and public pressure within Lebanon."

Which infrastructures and targets are worth it for Israel to attack? 

"If we do not know how to attack such civilian infrastructures that the Lebanese society will put pressure on Hezbollah, we will not come out of this. We needed to escalate matters long ago. The economic interest they had with the gas agreement needs to be canceled immediately and transferred to our hands as one of the first steps in response to Hezbollah's activities. The economy in Lebanon is so fragile that the last thing they need is escalation and entry into a war from Israel, which will destroy the Lebanese economy.

Buskila continued, "We are at war. Any target within Lebanon that causes pressure on Lebanese society is legitimate. It could be an airport, energy areas, and others. These are part of the steps taken in war, and we are at war. We are in a fateful year that will determine the future of the State of Israel in terms of security in the next 50 years. The sharper this war becomes and the more significant the achievements, the more peace we will acquire in the coming years."

"The State of Israel and the security system are afraid to carry out attacks for fear that Hezbollah may achieve long-range targets, farther than Haifa and Hadera. As Ofer Shelah wrote in his book, The Courage to Win, even winning requires courage. It also requires the ability to absorb, but ultimately, whoever has endurance and ability and knows his right is the one who wins."