DO NOT SEND WEAPONS TO ISRAEL

It is a fact known to all, and it is not necessary to repeat it. In the Middle East, the country with the greatest military force is Israel. Not even Egypt has the same power. There was, however, a moment in history, at the beginning of the Yom Kippur War, in October 1973, when the Egyptian general, Saad Chazli, (whom I interviewed in Algiers) crossed the Suez Canal, destroyed the Bar-Lev Line, entered the Sinai, but was unable to continue because of the immediate reaction of the Jewish armed forces. An agreement ended the war at the end of that month.

On Yom Kippur, the Egyptians were supported by the Syrian army, which occupied the Golan, but they were also forced to withdraw. If Israel defeated Chazli, it was because, frightened of seeing the Jews defeated, the United States sent its protégés a phenomenal number of planes, tanks, and artillery pieces; with which the generals: Ariel Sharon, Samuel Gonen, and David Eliazar won the war.

While all eyes are on the occupation of a part of Lebanese territory, with the aim of exterminating the Hezbollah movement, many voices have been raised to demand that the sending of weapons to the Jewish Prime Minister, Netanyahu, cease, in view of the massacres that have been occurring in the land of the cedars.

With billions of dollars annually, the United States is the main country that sends weapons to Israel. It represents two thirds of the total. Other important “suppliers” are: Germany, and the United Kingdom, while those that have suspended the sending of weapons to Tel-Aviv are, until now: Spain, France, Italy, and Belgium.

Hence the importance of the statement made this Friday in the Vatican by Spanish President Pedro Sanchez, when meeting with Pope Francis, appealing to the international community to stop arming Israel. His voice coincided with the infamous shooting of Jewish soldiers on a United Nations observation post in Lebanon.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Russia, China and Italy have similarly condemned Israeli forces for the attacks on the UN peacekeeping units.

Israeli forces fired at an observation post used by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, injuring two, a UN source said, the third day in a row peacekeepers have reported Israeli fire at their positions.

None of the Spanish soldiers who were part of the mission were hit, the Spanish Defense Ministry said. Spain has deployed 650 peacekeepers in Lebanon and a Spanish general leads the mission. Sanchez, whose country has been critical of Israel in the recent escalation of the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon.

It seems incredible that Israel would allow itself to bomb Lebanon, a peaceful country that enjoys the support of most international nations; France and the United States in particular.

The Lebanese are surprised by the attitude of President Emmanuel Macron, who has not reacted as expected to the Israeli aggression. The Lebanese and the French consider each other brothers; the former use French and Arabic, and it could be said that Paris represents a paternal support for Beirut. But Macron imitates Biden and leaves Netanyahu with a free hand to make Lebanon, as he has said, “another Gaza.”