Israelis May Be Spoiling For Another Fight

I will be surprised if the cease fire in Lebanon holds. Israelis are already showing signs of looking for another go. Bellicose comments by Hizbullah, Syria and Iran may have provoked the Israelis to look for another fight. Indeed, it may have already begun.
WaPo

Helicopter-borne Israeli commandos raided a Bekaa Valley stronghold of the Hezbollah militia early Saturday in the first major violation of a six-day-old cease-fire. Hezbollah, which battled the Israeli military for 33 days until a truce took hold Aug. 14, said its fighters encountered the Israeli commandos near the town of Boudai and engaged them in a fierce gun battle, inflicting casualties and driving them off.


The Israeli military, confirming the raid, said its commandos carried out the operation as part of an effort to prevent resupply of Hezbollah with weapons and munitions from Iran and Syria. It said one Israeli officer was killed and two soldiers were wounded, one seriously.

One might ask why would the Israelis be so hungry for another battle? It's because their reputation has been tarnished and their enemies emboldened.
WaPo

From the failure to get food and water to the troops, to complaints of an uncertain war plan and overconfident generals, the Lebanon war is fast being viewed within Israel as a major stumble. Military and political leaders already are trading blame; some are expected to lose their posts. Officers say the mistakes show weakness in the military, the Israel Defense Forces, known as the IDF. Many Israelis worry that the failure of the military to squash the Hezbollah militia will make their country more vulnerable to other enemies.


"For four weeks we failed to defend ourselves against daily bombardments against our cities. This is a failure that never happened before," said Yuval Steinitz, a Likud Party member and former chairman of parliament's defense committee. "This is going to send a bad message."


[...]"The destruction in Beirut and southern Lebanon do create anger, but they also create deterrence," Steinberg said. "Israelis are coping with this. It's not a sense of denial. It would be a mistake if Hezbollah or others look at Israel as a weakened society. Israeli society is very determined to see this through, and prepared to fight another war."