Israeli planes steering clear of Lebanon: France

[tocqueville]

By Irwin Arieff
26 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - After years of regular Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, there has been a 48-hour pause in warplanes flying over Lebanon, French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on Friday.

The French cabinet minister told a news conference at U.N. headquarters that the Israeli air incursions were "extremely dangerous" and should stop permanently.

.........................

Alliot-Marie said the French peacekeeping contingent in southern Lebanon, while equipped with anti-aircraft missiles, could use these weapons only in self-defense.

But an Israeli aircraft might mistakenly be seen by U.N. troops as having a hostile intent, possibly triggering "a very serious incident," she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061020/wl_nm/lebanon_israel_airspace_dc

[Tom Joad]

1. Good to hear that. Israeli authorities might someday learn that

the Middle East is not theirs.

[bemildred]

2. Chirac seems to be on-board with this.

That could be good. Ending these stupid provocations could be a good thing in a number of ways.

[bemildred]

3. Israel: Flights over Lebanon to continue

Israel's defense minister said Sunday that air force flights over Lebanon would continue because arms smuggling to Lebanese guerrillas has not stopped.

---

"As long as the resolution isn't implemented, there is no other choice," he said, referring to the U.N. resolution that ended Israel's monthlong summer war with Hezbollah.

---

Up to 15,000 Lebanese army troops and an equal number of U.N. troops have been assigned to patrol southern Lebanon. Last week, Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini, leader of the U.N. peacekeeping force, criticized Israel for sending its jets over the area.

Peretz said the U.N. force was "designed to operate against Hezbollah, not Israel."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061022/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_lebanon

[bemildred]

4. Israel insists on Lebanon overflights

Sources in the Israeli military say that Israel would bomb Unifil sites in southern Lebanon if Israeli warplanes are intercepted.

An Israeli newspaper, Maarif, reported on Sunday that the statements came after several European countries which have been putting pressure on Israel to stop its violation of Lebanese air space.

Israel claims it has to carry on monitoring Lebanon from the air to prevent possible arms-smuggling to Hezbollah.

Amir Peretz, the defence minister, was said to have told the weekly cabinet meeting: "The Lebanese government is falling short of carrying out its commitment under UN Security Council Resolution 1701."

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EB1A2C3D-AFD2-4D4F-8730-E5DFBF7F40F2.htm

[The Magistrate]

5. It Would Be Nice, Sir, To See The Maarif Report

As it may have gained a little something in the presentation by this source....

It does not strike me as very likely the U.N. forces would engage Israeli aircraft, and so nothing is likely to come from any bellicose statements in this regard.

[bemildred]

6. I don't take it with any seriousness at this point.

I have seen enough reporting on the back and forth here to believe that they are engaged in a long-range mouth fight on the subject, and I am fairly curious as to whether anything will come of it. As we have discussed in the past, my current expectation is a return to the status quo ante, more or less, and that seems to be what is happening up to now.

[The Magistrate]

7. That, My Friend, Is My View As Well

The Israelis would be foolish, in my view, not to maintain reconnaisance monitoring on their own of movements in the area: as it probably is a violation of something or other for them to do so, the U.N. forces have to make some pious noise over it, and the Israeli military have in response to make defiant noises. No one means a word of it, and the flights will continue.

[pelsar]

8. it would be incredibly negligent if israel did not....

its was those same recon flights, those same illegal flights that discovered the locations of the long range missiles destined for Tel Aviv with 100kg warheads.....had they been fired hundreds would have been killed.

but for some the "illegality" of recon flights has far more weight than the dead

[The Magistrate]

9. One Of The Problems, Sir

Is that some tend to treat anything that can be called illegal as if all illegality had the same weight. But it is illegal to exceed a speed limit, and illegal to kill a man with malice aforethought: few would venture to present the things as matters of equal weight, though....

[bemildred]

10. Israel Planes in Mock Raids over Lebanon

(IsraelNN.com) Israeli Air Force planes Monday conducted mock raids over southern Lebanon, hours after the French Defense Minister called air surveillance over the area a violation of Lebanon's air space. Israel has stated the surveillance flights are necessary to monitor the smuggling of weapons from Syria to Hizbullah terrorists. Re-arming Hizbullah violates the United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolution.

The French minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, has called the flights "extremely dangerous" because they could be mistaken as a raid on Hizbullah terrorists, resulting in the possibility that United Nations troops (UNIFIL) would try to bring down the planes.

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=114063

[pelsar]

11. this may be a bit "off color"....

but my immediate reaction was "boys will be boys"

dare the IAF and they're most likly to take you up on it

[bemildred]

12. Yeah, that was my interpretation too.

I would not think pissing France off, or UNFIL, was a good idea myself, considering what it is wanted for them to do, but sensibility seems to be in short supply.

[bemildred]

13. Peretz: IAF to overfly Lebanon until soldiers back

"It is our right to conduct overflights of Lebanon as long as United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is not implemented, and this includes the return of the kidnapped soldiers," Defense Minister Amir Peretz told a business conference in Tel Aviv on Monday.

The comments came after a diplomatic spat with France that began on Friday when French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told a news conference that the violations of Lebanese air space could provide an excuse for others not to obey the cease-fire imposed by 1701.

---

Senior cabinet members have promised that the overflights will continue, without linking them to the fate of kidnapped IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

"A central problem in our region has been the disconnect between sovereignty and responsibility," Peretz told business leaders at the Israel Center for Management's annual conference. While "Lebanese Prime Minister is sovereign over Lebanon... in his mind he is only responsible for Beirut's tourism," Peretz said.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193506138&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull