Why UN Post Was Bombed By Israel

As Reuters reports, despite vehement denials by Israeli officials, Kofi Annan believes the attack on a UN observer post that killed 4 UN observers was "apparently deliberate."

Why would the Israelis want to attack the very organization which they hope will deploy peacekeepers and implent resolution 1559 which calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah?

It is no secret that Israel has a love-hate relationship with the UN and the "international community." On the one hand, Israel completely ignores UN resolutions which condemn its actions and its supporters attack the legitimacy of the organization whenever it does so.

On the other hand, it was the UN that recognized Israel 50 years ago and resolutions which are congruent to its interests are always given the utmost attention by all those on its side.

Nevertheless, the Israeli polity, despite claims to the contrary, is not a homogenous body. Israel is made up of a large centre, with peaceniks flanking on the left, and ultranationalists, zionists, and religious extremists on the right. Due to the fact that virtually all of Israeli society passes through the ranks of the IDF, with the exception of Orthodox Jews, its obvious that the ideologies that make up the mosaic of Israeli political thought are also represented in its cadres.

Though most of the erudite and well-spoken Israeli political elite including Prime Minister Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni would like nothing more than to earn the sympathy and support of the UN and the world for their policies, surely there exist extreme reactionaries, zealots and xenophobes with Israel which see not only "Islamic terror" as Israel's enemy, but also the gentiles that make up the rest of the world (Christians included).

My supposition is that exteme rogue elements within the Israeli military command organized and supported the attack for the purpose of torpedoing the plan to establish foreign troops in a buffer zone between Israel and Hezbollah. Perhaps they perceived a deployment of foreign troops as an infringement of their sovereignty and an unwelcome curtailment of the free hand with which they have pummeled the Arabs since the state's inception.

Maybe extreme zionist elements fear a UN deployment would prelude an eventual UN occupation of not only Lebanon, but of Israel as well. The Romans occupied ancient Israel and the zealots rose up in response. It could be that modern neo-zealots within the IDF are trying to prevent foreign occupation from happening again, despite the assertions of Biblical Prophecy suggesting just that.

Israel's military has a history of attacking its supposed allies in incidents such as the deadly targetting of the USS Liberty in the six-days war in 1967. There are other incidents such as the bombing of the King David Hotel by militant zionists and apparent plans by such groups as the
Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement, whose leader was once an IDF commander, to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque in hopes of rebuilding the temple.

If history is any guide, this war, taking on religious tones and dimensions, will get worse before it gets better. There are people on both sides who will go to any lengths to achieve their goals. The bombing of the UN post was no mistake, but a deliberate strike by a minority splinter within the Israeli military establishment to drive a wedge between Israel and the rest of the world.

Israel
Lebanon