Israel’s risky response

TWO WEEKS AGO, ISRAEL RESPONDED to the kidnapping of one its soldiers by sending its forces into Palestinian territory in Gaza. On Thursday, it reacted to another abduction -- this time of two soldiers -- by dispatching bombers and troops to the kidnappers’ staging ground in Lebanon. In both cases, Israel was provoked; in both cases, it overreacted, running the risk of emboldening Arab rejectionists.

Yet there is an important and ominous difference between the two operations. Gaza is part of a would-be state of Palestine. Lebanon is an independent country, albeit one in which the terrorist group Hezbollah has a foothold in government. As President Bush observed Thursday at a news conference in Germany, Israel certainly has the right to defend itself. But, as he also emphasized, it is not in Israel’s interest to “weaken that government.”

By bombing the Beirut airport, Israel runs the risk of doing exactly that. The Israelis have every right to pursue into Lebanon the Hezbollah operatives who crossed into Israel to abduct the two soldiers. But to hold the entire state of Lebanon responsible -- and to exact retaliation by striking at infrastructure that serves innocent civilians -- is disproportionate.

Israel is tired of being urged to exercise restraint when it responds to an attack. In recent years, the Jewish state has made significant concessions -- uprooting settlers in Gaza, accepting the once-anathema idea of a Palestinian state -- only to see Palestinians elect a government dominated by the rejectionist Hamas movement. The kidnapping of Israeli soldiers on Israeli soil first by allies of Hamas, then by Hezbollah, adds insult to injury.

But the counsel to caution still makes sense, especially at a time when the United States, Israel’s ally, is fighting an insurgency in Iraq and trying to rally Arab and Islamic nations to pressure Iran not to develop nuclear weapons. There is never a good time for another Middle East war. But this is an especially bad time, from both the Israeli and U.S. vantage points.

Bush pointedly said Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad “needs to show some leadership toward peace,” and other administration officials blamed Syria and Iran for supporting Hezbollah. It will be easier for the United States and Arab states such as Egypt and Jordan to bring pressure on Tehran and Damascus to rein in Hezbollah if Israel keeps its retaliation in proportion.