The War and Its Aftermath

September 10, 2006

“ The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] operation,…in the air, at sea and on land, brought about a change in the regional strategic balance, first and foremost vis-a-vis the Hizbullah terror organization.

“IDF soldiers dealt a severe blow, the dimensions of which are not yet publicly known, to this murderous organization, its military and organizational infrastructure, its long-term ability, the huge weapons arsenal it has built and accumulated for many years, and also to the self-confidence of its people and leaders.

“ In every battle, in every encounter with Hizbullah terrorists, the fighters of the IDF had the upper hand––of this there is no doubt. The leaders of this terrorist organization went underground, and from there, they are busy spreading lies and hiding the truth of the cost to them and their people.

“ In this regard, I wish to clarify––these people will not be exonerated. They will not be exonerated. We will continue to chase them wherever they are and for however long it takes. It is our moral duty to ourselves, and we have no intention of apologizing or asking permission from anyone to do so.

“ We also suffered painful blows, both on the home front and on the front line. We did not mislead ourselves when we embarked, because of the inevitability of the circumstances, on this war. We did not mislead anyone. We said rockets would fall, missiles would fall, and that we would pay a heavy price––the most precious––in human lives.

“We spoke out of a sense of profound responsibility towards every citizen on the front line and on the home front, and we knew––we all knew––that there was no choice but to embark on this campaign. Otherwise, we would have found ourselves facing even greater dangers in the future.”
–Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, August 14, 2006

“ We left Lebanon to the last centimeter, and they are firing. We left Gaza to the last centimeter, and they are firing. What we have learned is that if they lay down their arms there will be peace––but if we lay down our arms, they will slaughter us. ” –
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli opposition leader to the Knesset, August 15, 2006

 

Islamic Claims of Victory

“ We are before a strategic and historic victory, without any exaggeration, for all of Lebanon, the resistance and the whole of the Arab nation. We came out victorious in a war in which big Arab armies were defeated [before]. ” –
Hassan Nasrallah, head of Hizbullah, August 15, 2006

“ Your [Hizbullah’s] unprecedented holy war and steadfastness are beyond the limits of my description. It’s a divine victory. It’s a victory of Islam. You have ridiculed the myth that the Zionist army is invincible. ” –
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, August 17, 2006

“ The victories that the Lebanese resistance achieved against the Israeli destructive military arsenal created a state of steadfastness on the Arab and Islamic levels that we are in need [of] during the current time. ”
Abdullah Fahd al-Nafisi, Kuwaiti intellectual and professor in political sciences, August 14, 2006

“ This victory was promised in the Koran: ‘The party of Allah must triumph.’ On this occasion, I want to tell Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert that they should learn a lesson from this shameful defeat. They should not bare their fangs, expose their stings, or make threats against Islamic Iran. They should learn a lesson from the fact that a single party [Hizbullah] has turned their days into dark nights. If they decided to display the slightest aggression against Islamic Iran, they should bear in mind that the missiles of the Lebanese Hizbullah, with a range of 70 kilometers [43.5 miles], have turned Israel into a ghost country. They should fear the day that our missiles, with a range of 2,000 kilometers [1,243 miles], land in the heart of Tel Aviv. Therefore, we hope that Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert have learned the necessary lesson. They should know that playing with Islam is like playing with a lion’s tail. ” –
Ahmad Khatami, top Iranian official, member of the Iranian Assembly of Experts, which aired on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN) on August 15, 2006.

“ What Israel should know is that every generation has more hatred towards it than the generation before. Hatred is not a good word. We don’t hate, and we don’t encourage hatred, but Israel did not leave room in our region except for hatred. ” –
Syrian President Assad, August 15, 2006

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