ISRAEL SAYS FRENCH-US PROPOSAL MEETS MOST OF ITS DEMANDS

AFP via The Tocqueville Connection ^ | 08/11/2006

[Republicain]

JERUSALEM, Aug 11, 2006 (AFP) - Israel said on Friday that most of its demands would be satisfied if the resolution drafted by France and the United States was adopted by the UN Security Council.

"We are attaining the main goal we had set ourselves, which is to remove the threat of rockets on northern Israel," Justice Minister Haim Ramon told public radio.

"Hezbollah will no longer be deployed south of the Litani river and thousands of soldiers from an international force will be there to ensure it," said Ramon, a close aide to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

He added that if the resolution currently being discussed by diplomats at the United Nations was adopted, "we will have changed the rules of the game despite not obtaining everything we wanted."

Israel earlier rejected a resolution proposed by Russia alone and calling for a 72-hour humanitarian truce.

France has expressed optimism that an agreement on a truce was imminent, but Lebanon continued to argue that the French-US proposals remained unsatisfactory.

Israel's acceptance of the UN resolution being drafted is also meeting opposition within the ranks of Olmert's own government and party, with several key politicians arguing that it would amount to handing Hezbollah victory.

A senior government official also told AFP that the agreement currently on the table would not bring home the two Israeli soldiers captured by the Lebanese militia during the deadly July 12 attack that triggered Israel's offensive on Lebanon.

"The internationally-brokered ceasefire agreement will not bring the kidnapped soldiers home," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"The agreement will include a solution to Israel's demands regarding the ouster of Hezbollah from southern Lebanon and its disarming, but it won't include a real solution for the soldiers," he said.

[D-fendr]

Get the soldiers back. Disarm Hezbollah, destroy all rockets and arms. Hold Lebanon accountable for terrorist sanctuary within its borders..

Then ceasefire.

[gondramB]

Maybe I am missing something but

1. Israel is bombing Beruit how will a peace keeping force in the south stop whatever is going on in Beirut?

2. The Litani river has been referred to as Isreal's natural northern border - this choice of a ceasefire line is gonna generate some conspiracy theorists.

3. What will the French do when Hezbollah attacks and Israel fires back and French troops are in the middle?

[goldstategop]

Without a solution for the abducted soldiers, it will not be enough to conclude the war. Israel may not get everything it wants but the return of its soldiers ought to be a non-negotiable prerequisite for any ceasefire.

(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)

[zarf]

Israel spends a month bombing with high tech weapons and can't get 2 soldiers back. Now they agree to a UN halt. LOL.

Israel loses.

[ChristianDefender]

I hope the soldiers are still alive!

[kingu]

Peacekeepers. What a frickin' joke.

Let us turn back a page, and look at another hotspot in the world, now 'protected' by peacekeepers. I speak, of course, of Haiti. Some folks might remember that chunk of land to the south.

The peacekeepers were charged, what, a year and a half ago, with disarming the militias that were terrorizing that nation. Today, they're telling the militias to turn in their weapons. Surrender or die, says Haiti's government, whereas the peacekeepers are saying 'we need more people to maintain the peace.' Not to gather weapons, not to take out the militias, but to 'maintain the peace.'

That translates, actually, to 'keep our people from being kidnapped every few weeks.' Because the UN Peacekeepers in Haiti have been an abysmal joke.

They're going to be just as effective in Lebanon. Or rather, they're going to be just as effective as those UN observation posts in Southern Lebanon. The UN is already there, they've been there for, what, two decades?

Useless crap.

[vimto]

It is hard to believe all that effort was for less than nothing. Sod the world opinion, do what is right!!!!

[SkyPilot]

Trust France! We will protect you, and France would never betray the Jews!

[boomop1]

Israel is falling into a trap, the idea that this will solve the crisis is insane, The surrender monkey's will assist Hezbollah, sos blue helmet syndrome.

[fortheDeclaration]

A senior government official also told AFP that the agreement currently on the table would not bring home the two Israeli soldiers captured by the Lebanese militia during the deadly July 12 attack that triggered Israel's offensive on Lebanon.

This should topple the Israeli gov't.

Now, if Israel goes for this deal, how much more likely are they going to sign that 7yr covenant with the Anti-Christ?

Israel has become a 'peace at any price' nation.

[libertylover]

What will the French do when Hezbollah attacks and Israel fires back and French troops are in the middle?

Cut and run. As always.

[dervish]

"What will the French do when Hezbollah attacks and Israel fires back and French troops are in the middle?"

Yes. Invariably international peacekeepers have only restrained Israel from responding not Muslims from attacking.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"3. What will the French do when Hezbollah attacks and Israel fires back and French troops are in the middle?'

Surrender!?

[Red Badger]

Get the soldiers back. DESTROY (TO THE LAST MAN) Hezbollah, destroy all rockets and arms. Hold Lebanon accountable for terrorist sanctuary within its borders..

[Red Badger]

This is insane. Hezbuttheads will not give up on their destruction of Israel just because they are moved from point A to point B. This deal is a chance for them to regroup, rearm and renew their pledge of destruction.........

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

I can't understand that Israel has held back on sending in the troops that have been waiting on the border for a week!? Has Hezbollah been that hard to root out of its bunkers?

[rbg81]

3. What will the French do when Hezbollah attacks and Israel fires back and French troops are in the middle?

Exactly. If Israel wants to get to Hezbollah, it will have to fight its way thru the French (for better or worse).

[Prysson]

If this ceasefire goes forward it will be a victory for Hezbollah and Olmert should be bounced out of power.

[SJackson]

2006israelwar> 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------