Is the ‘Begin Doctrine’ still relevant for Israel against Iran?

Even if the “Begin Doctrine” exists, it does not mean that Israel will always be able to implement it.

By YAAKOV KATZ

PRIME MINISTER Menachem Begin holds a special press conference to announce the Osirak reactor bombing, June 9, 1981. Also present: Uri Porat, PM media adviser (L) and IDF Chief of Staff Rafael ‘Raful’ Eitan (R).

(photo credit: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF ISRAEL)

On June 9, 1981, after the bombing of the Osirak reactor in Iraq, prime minister Menachem Begin convened a press conference to address the world.

Two days earlier, Israel had surprised the world, sending a formation of F-16 fighter jets to Iraq to destroy Saddam Hussein’s prized nuclear reactor, named Osirak. The Americans were upset and in about 10 days they would vote in favor of UN Security Council Resolution 487, condemning Israel’s unilateral strike.

Into the Heart of a Hezbollah Terror Tunnel

Edy Cohen (r) about to enter Hezbollah terror tunnel during visit organized by IDF Spokespersons Unit, image courtesy of the author

BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,131, August 22, 2021

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Arabic language desk of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit marked 15 years since the Second Lebanon War by inviting Israeli media commentators to visit a Hezbollah terror tunnel on the border with Lebanon. I was one of the participants.

Hezbollah terrorists have spent years carving tunnels out of hard rock, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, under the homes of innocent Lebanese men,

Gantz y Herzog advierten de respuesta de Israel si Irán continúa con agresiones

Enlace Judío – El ministro de Defensa de Israel, Benny Gantz, afirmó este martes que el país está preparado para ayudar al Líbano en medio de su creciente crisis financiera, pero que al mismo tiempo no aceptará más ataques en su frontera, luego de que un aluvión de cohetes fue disparado contra el norte de Israel por el grupo terrorista Hezbolá, informó The Times of Israel.

“La crisis en el Líbano es devastadora. El Estado de Israel pide a la comunidad internacional que ayude al Líbano. También estamos dispuestos a brindar asistencia. Sin embargo, no permitiremos que la tragedia del Líbano cruce la frontera hacia Israel”, dijo Gantz en una visita al Comando Norte de las Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel (FDI).

El Líbano está lidiando con fuertes golpes a su economía y el gobierno está discutiendo el levantamiento de los subsidios que ya no puede pagar, en medio de l

Lebanese PM: We’re not responsible for Hezbollah; it’s a ‘regional problem’

Saad Harari’s remarks come as Israel stresses it won’t distinguish between Beirut and the Lebanon-based terror group in future conflict.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri speaks during a conference at Chatham House in London on December 13, 2018. (Daniel Leak-Olivas/AFP)

Lebanon’s prime minister disavowed any responsibility for Hezbollah on Tuesday, declaring himself unable to curb the political party-cum-terrorist organization’s activities.

In an interview with American cable news network CNBC, days after a bout of cross-border fire between Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces brought long-simmering tensions to a boil, Saad Hariri said the group is not only “a Lebanese problem” but rather “a regional problem.”