TEL AVIV -- As prime minister, Ehud Barak withdrew Israeli troops from Lebanon in 2000, ending a protracted occupation that lasted nearly two decades and was a source of fierce debate inside Israel.In an interview with NPR, Barak said he knew it was the right decision many years earlier when he was still a soldier who had experienced fighting in Lebanon."I'm sometimes asked, 'Why did you pull out the soldiers from the (Lebanon) security zone in 2000?' I say the right question is not why I did it in 2000, why was it not done 15 years earlier," Barak, now 84, said at his home in a Tel Aviv high-rise with a commanding view of the Mediterranean."For me, it was a stretched-out tragedy that had no explanation in a rational way as to why we were there," he said.Today, a large Israeli military force is once again in southern Lebanon as part of its most expansive operation since the pullout 26 years ago.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli troops are there to quell Hezbollah fire on Israeli civilians in northern Israel."We will not allow fire to be directed at our territory," Netanyahu told his Cabinet this week.
"We are striking them very forcefully, and we know that Hezbollah is in retreat."The Hezbollah attacks began in early March as a show of support for its patron, Iran, which had just come under a joint attack from the United States and Israel.The wars in Lebanon and Iran are closely linked.Iran cited the Israeli attacks in Lebanon as the reason it fired ballistic missiles at Israeli on Sunday and Monday.
Israel responded with airstrikes on Iran.All of this is part of increased fighting in recent days despite officially declared ceasefires in both wars.
President Trump has told Netanyahu to stop, or at least scale back attacks in Lebanon, because it's making it harder to reach a deal with Iran.There's no indication of how long the Israelis may stay in Lebanon this time.The country has already lost nearly 30 soldiers and has committed a large force that ...