The Innocent Bystander Myth

One of the most bizarre aspects of the current Lebanon crisis is the international community's unanimous insistence that the Lebanese government is an innocent party, and should therefore not be made to suffer for Hezbollah's actions.

The official statement issued by the G-8 on Sunday, for instance, said that Israel must avoid doing anything that would destabilize Lebanon's government. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at the summit: "We are convinced that the government of Lebanon must be given all support."

US President George W. Bush said last week that while Israel has the right to defend itself, "whatever Israel does should not weaken the ? government in Lebanon."

And this presumption of Beirut's innocence has inevitably affected criticism of Israel's response to the Hezbollah attacks. Thus, for instance, the European Union's rotating president, Finland, issued a statement last week declaring that the EU "is greatly concerned about the disproportionate use of force by Israel in Lebanon in response to attacks by Hezbollah on Israel? The imposition of an air and sea blockade cannot be justified."

In fact, this blockade would arguably be justified even if the conflict were solely between Israel and Hezbollah, since its main purpose is to cut off Hezbollah's supply of rockets - for which Beirut Airport, in particular, has been a major conduit for years.

Hezbollah's attack was far from a rogue action committed in defiance of the government: The Lebanese government has actively supported it, in both word and deed.

In any normal country, a junior coalition member that attacked a neighboring country without its partners' consent would be swiftly disavowed and ousted from the government.

Instead, the Lebanese government has passionately defended Hezbollah's actions on the international stage.

Far from repudiating Hezbollah's attacks on Israel, the Lebanese government has actively defended, facilitated and assisted them at every turn. There are thus no grounds for treating it as an innocent party in this conflict. And until the international community recognizes this, its efforts to resolve the crisis will inevitably fail.