International Law...Israeli Version

The new Israeli warning that it has the right both to violate Lebanese airspace and to attack Lebanon if it attempts to protect its airspace comes on the heels of Defense Minister Barak's February 2 assertion of the right to attack Lebanon if it imports weapons not approved by Israel.

Israel asserted the right to control Gaza and the West Bank after conquering those regions and got away with it. Now it asserts the right to sovereignty over Lebanon, which is recognized even by the U.S. as an independent country. Israel, it seems, has the right to violate Lebanon’s territory, attack it if it tries to protect its territory, and even attack it if it imports weapons that are not authorized…by Israel.

How long will Washington continue to provide the weapons that Israel uses to bully its neighbors? If Israel is allowed to get away with telling Lebanon what to do, what country will be next? Syria, which it recently attacked…for having technology not approved by Israel? Jordan, if the horrors of the recent Gaza campaign provoke a change in Jordan’s pro-Israel policy?

Then, of course, there is Iran. Iran makes unauthorized comments about Israel. Iran develops unauthorized technology. No need to argue about the likelihood of Iran actually building a nuclear weapon or using it. According to the principles of international relations in Israel’s part of the world, Iran has already broken two rules.