israelis planned kidnapping of soldiers in Lebanon
For those who missed it, a brief excerpt from an article by Gabriel Kolko leaves me with the distinct impression that israelis planned the kidnapping of their soldiers in Lebanon last summer.
It was a war of choice, and it was planned as an air war with very limited ground incursions in the expectation that Israeli casualties would be very low.
Major General Herzl Sapir at the end of February said that "the war began at our initiative and we did not take advantage of the benefits granted to the initiator."
Planning for the war began November 2005 but reached high gear by the following March before the expected kidnapping of two IDF soldiers – the nominal excuse for the war.
You can't "EXPECT" your soldiers to be kidnapped and not in some way, either passively or actively, be involved in it.
I tried to no avail to learn more about Kolko, to understand from where or how he got this impression.
But, as an experienced writer and historian known for advancing complex national economic policies, it does not seem likely that he would choose his words loosely or imprecisely.
If so, this may very well be the 'bombshell' that awaits israelis from the investigation into last summer's war.
... (notice I'm saying CAPTURED as POWs, not kidnapped) because they've been sending them in light patrols deep into Lebanese territory to provoke the Lebanese resistance. They've been itching for an excuse to launch their pre-planned war, and sacrificing a souple vulnerable soldiers to them was worth it.
Remember Hezbollah captured Zionist soldiers more than once in the years after Israel's flight from Lebanon, and used them for prisoner exchanges. They were going to ask for a prisoner exchange this time too, but for some reason the Israeli response was VERY different from previous times.
Pre-planned war by Israel, and they flopped.