Joel Rosenberg: Amid a series of dramatic successes for the IDF – Is a Third Lebanon War inevitable?
Former IDF international spokesman Conricus tells THE ROSENBERG REPORT on TBN: ‘I believe that God helps those who help themselves’
David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, used to say, “Israelis don’t just believe in miracles. We depend on them.”
Joel Rosenberg, ALL ISRAEL NEWS editor-in-chief believes this statement to be accurate and reflective of the current reality in the Jewish state.
“Never has that been truer than over the past few months, and the past few days,” he said.
In the latest episode of his show, THE ROSENBERG REPORT which airs weekly on TBN, Rosenberg highlighted Israel’s recent dramatic – “even miraculous,” in his words – military achievements.
From the assassination of three of Israel’s largest enemies – Hezbollah’s chief of staff Fuad Shukr, Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif and its top leader Ismail Haniyeh; through the pre-emptive surprise attack against Hezbollah; to the rescue of Bedouin hostage Farhan al-Qadi after 326 days in captivity in Gaza.
How did Israel pull off such operations?
“It's a lot of joint cooperation between IDF, Intel and Mossad,” former IDF international spokesman, Lt.-Col. (ret.) Jonathan Conricus said in a conversation with Rosenberg.
Conricus, who currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), noted that “sizable parts” of the Israeli budget go toward the different components of military intelligence.
While Oct. 7 was a massive failure of intelligence, Conricus said the recent “tremendous success” of alleged Israeli activity in Tehran reflects the “hard work over many years of the Mossad.”
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the assassination of Hamas leader, who was reportedly killed in a guarded guesthouse in Tehran by a bomb that was smuggled in. He was attending the Iranian president's inauguration in the capital.
“My assessment is that we're talking about networks and infrastructure and intelligence capabilities that were built in order to deal with the Iranian nuclear program and were then shifted in order to deal with Palestinian terrorists that were visiting in into Iran,” Conricus told Rosenberg.
On Aug. 25, Israel demonstrated yet again how solid intelligence can save lives and at least postpone – if not prevent – a bloody, full-fledged war. After identifying signs of an imminent massive attack by Hezbollah, Israel launched a series of pre-dawn airstrikes using 100 Air Force (IAF) jets targeting Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
“That was thwarted because Israel had not only the intel, but even more important, the actual capability to match intel with combat capabilities and to deliver ordnance bombs at the right place and at the right time,” said Conricus.
In the widespread international coverage of the pre-emptive strike, one important aspect – highlighted by Conricus – appears to have been overlooked.
“How many civilians were killed when about 100 planes dropped thousands of tons of bombs at southern Lebanon? None. None. Why? Because the precision, based on intel and based on values and norms, the sanctity of human life, which is sacred to Judaism. It's sacred to the pilots and the people who operate the IDF.”
Were Israelis just ‘lucky’ to score these achievements or is God supernaturally intervening to protect the Jewish state?
Rosenberg raised the question with Conricus.
“I believe in saying that a good rabbi, a friend of mine, told me: God helps those who help themselves,” Conricus replied. “I'm sure that there was luck involved, divine intervention, assistance, providence. And there was also lots and lots of hard work, professionalism and diligence and the spirit of getting the job done. I think it's a combination of everything. I belong to those who believe that you have to be ready and present yourself for when opportunity comes knocking.”
“We have no other choice but to be victorious and to defend ourselves against the forces of evil that are at full display against us,” he continued.
Rosenberg agreed but made one reservation: “I don't believe you can have luck and divine intervention at the same time.”
“If you look at what's happened of late, it's divine intervention. Doesn't mean that people aren't working hard. And you see all through the scriptures,” Joel stressed. “It's not one or the other. But I think Israel needs to be looking more for God's divine intervention… A lot of military forces I see singing the Psalms, reading the Psalms, thinking about God as they go into battle.”
Despite the recent string of military achievements, Rosenberg described a reality in Israel in which most people are still bracing themselves for “something much, much bigger.”
Is a Third Lebanon War inevitable?
There is a wide consensus in the country that security must be restored to Israel’s north and that more than 60,000 displaced citizens must return to their homes after more than 11 months of war.
“How can that end? How can that situation be brought to a close? In my mind, I see two options,” Conricus stated. “One is international diplomatic pressure and involvement that leads Hezbollah to agree to move back from the border with Israel and to stop the fighting and to commit to stopping the attacks against Israel.”
Unfortunately, the former IDF spokesperson does not believe there is enough international pressure on Hezbollah, Lebanon or the Iranian regime to promote a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006, continues to be ignored. It called for the implementation of a permanent ceasefire, based on “the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon.”
Therefore, Israel is left with only one remaining option.
“The other option - if diplomacy doesn't work - then we can get to diplomacy by the way of military activity… Israel will need to do a massive campaign of fire to clear southern Lebanon of any remaining Hezbollah facilities and then move in, push Hezbollah back so that they do not have access to the border and most importantly, are not within running, driving or shooting distance of Israeli civilians along the border,” Conricus explained.
Watch Joel Rosenberg’s interview with Lt.-Col. (ret.) Jonathan Conricus on the TBN website.
THE ROSENBERG REPORT airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST and Saturday nights at 9:30 p.m. EST – on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
