Offensive Operations

This weekend has been as bad as any in the "other" Middle East war. While the diplomats at the United Nations chew on language, the death toll mounts.

We've been screaming for a cease-fire for weeks, so we should be happy that the United Nations might be ready to vote on one, right? Not so.

The cease-fire resolution as now written is a non-starter. It rightly requires Hezbollah to halt its operations, but it only requires Israel to halt "offensive operations." What is that? Don't the Israelis consider the entire operation a defensive operation? The draft also rests on the notion of a "buffer zone" in Southern Lebanon. History suggests that, regardless of what the Security Council might desire, no such buffer will exist without the settlement of a number of other issues that divide Israel and its neighbors.

One long time observer of the region calls the draft a "lemon." He's being kind. He could have called it much worse.

Not surprisingly, the United States, in the person of Israel's most effective representative at the United Nations, John Bolton, is pressing for a quick vote on the draft. Now it appears that opposition to the draft will delay the vote until at least Tuesday. One can only hope against hope that the opposition of the Lebanese government will cause someone to take another look at this.

In the meantime, people like Maya Mikdashi, a Lebanese woman living in Beirut, will continue to try to keep going. I'm sure many living in Haifa are telling similar stories.

Is Israel any safer for all of this?