The Real Cost of the War to the State of Israel

Let's temporarily put aside the supplemental costs of the most recent military actions by Israel, such as the massive destruction of Lebanon, the damage caused by Hezbollah rockets and the attendant deaths, and the simple math of mounting such a massive war campaign. All of these costs are huge, but they pale in comparison with a much greater loss: the apparent "myth" of Israel's unbeatable military machine.

I daresay part of what has enabled Israel - a very small country with only about four million residents - to survive as long as it has since it was carved out of Muslim-dominated land in the late 1940s has been the belief that its military, one of the most massive and best-equpped in the world and ranking as one of the top four militaries in the world, was unbeatable. Little tiny Israel would bulldoze into adjacent lands and lay waste to everything in sight.

Yet now, nearly three full weeks into its campaign ostensibly against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel is anything but the victor. Happy horseshit from Israeli Prime Minister Olmert aside that Israel is triumphant, its neighbors both close and farther away know that Israel has not succeeded in its objective: the elimination of Hezbollah.

More importantly, the world knows that Israel may not have quite the power they seemed to have, power granted by huge subsidies from the United States along with the best military hardware and technology America could supply. This is far more dangerous for the state of Israel than anything Hezbollah - or its helpers in Syria and Iran - might throw at them. It makes it far more likely that Israel may be targeted by its enemies regardless of the fact Israel has the full backing of the United States.

At the same time, Israel has mounted the worst possible public relations nightmare. Except for the U.S., many nations who once considered themselves practical allies of Israel have seen the brutish power Israel has asserted and they want nothing to do with it. Even in the U.S., you see more opposition to helping Israel in this battle than you might have before the Qana Massacre on Sunday. Take this from today's Ha'aretz:

The deaths of dozens of civilians in an Israel Air Force attack on the southern Lebanese village of Qana marked a significant diplomatic turning point against Israel, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday.

The foreign minister said that following the events in Qana, Israel's scope for political maneuvering had been reduced, as was the amount of European support Israel is receiving for its operation in Lebanese soil.

Livni said this change was exemplified in the "problematic" Russian and French stance towards Israel.

Livni is right. While I believe Mr. Bush will stand behind Israel regardless of whether it nukes Tehran, who else will? And all this will do is strengthen the hatred in the world for both the U.S. and Israel.