Israeli writer igal sarna says war in Lebanon has transformed the opinions of his countrymen |
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Last Saturday, with the impending ceasefire already in the air, I drove along Israel's northern border to the village of Zar'it. It was here, on July 12, that two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped, starting "the second Lebanon war", as it's now called, that has left more than 1,300 people dead, most of them Lebanese.
A woman who lives in Zar'it told me how her husband was ambushed in the very same place on June 6, 1969. It's a little valley where it's difficult to see far and easy to set a trap. She said the Israeli army knew exactly how dangerous the spot was but had done little to prevent a further ambush.
The fact is, little was done to prevent this summer's war, if anything. Two armies came face to face, spoiling for a fight - a Shia militia, well armed by Iran, and the great Israeli army, well equipped by the US. Neither could |
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| A month ago, I wrote: ‘This is the most senseless war we have ever had.’ A thousand readers cursed me |
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be restrained by their weak governments - the helpless Lebanese government on the one hand, and a beginner Israeli one, only recently elected, on the other. Both Hezbollah and the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) had opposite interests from their civilian populations, who wanted a quiet border and economic prosperity after long-lasting wars. "When everything is over," said the woman from Zar'it, "we will punish the generals who were in charge."
A month ago, in the first week of the war, when it had the overwhelming support of the Israeli public, I wrote in Yediot Aharonoth, Israel's largest daily paper, that "this could be the most senseless war we have ever got involved in. All that is happening could have been predicted and could have been taken care of - if there was an experienced Israeli political echelon and a restricting American influence".
About 1,300 readers cursed me, using Ynet, the newspaper's online edition, to call me an idiot or a traitor.
But by the time of the ceasefire the Israeli 
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