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Cabinet set to approve ground push
With the French reportedly weighing changes to the UN cease-fire resolution that would tilt it in Lebanon's favor and a "war of the generals" taking place in the Northern Command, the security cabinet is expected Wednesday morning to approve an expanded ground operation up to the Litani River, and perhaps beyond. Government sources said that the 12-person security cabinet, which Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday had so far okayed all plans the IDF had brought for approval, would not likely reject plans for a wider operation, especially amid growing public impatience with the pace of the war.

“Defense officials said that the IDF could be ready to push further into southern Lebanon within hours of the security cabinet decision...”
Diplomatic officials said that Israel had not come under any US pressure to shelve plans for an expanded operation as various drafts of a US-French cease-fire resolution were being considered in the UN. According to these officials, the US position that Israel has the right to defend itself was as firm today, with the country coming under a daily barrage of Katyusha fire, as it was during the first days of the war. This position would only change, they said, once the UN cease-fire resolution has been voted upon. This is not expected until Thursday at the earliest. Defense officials said that the IDF could be ready to push further into southern Lebanon within hours of the security cabinet decision.

Channel 1 reported Tuesday night that the government was considering sending Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to the UN Security Council debate on the cease-fire resolution, but this could not be confirmed by the ministry. Jerusalem is concerned that detrimental changes may be made in the resolution, especially considering the timing of an IDF withdrawal. The draft resolution circulated on Saturday did not call for a withdrawal until an international force arrived.

“Israel has made it clear that it would not accept a call for an immediate withdrawal of IDF troops...”
The Arab League is expected to try to alter the resolution, and government officials said the specter of the security cabinet debating the widening of the operation was being used as a threat to the Lebanese that it would not be in their best interest to push for a proposal with which Israel would be unable to live. Israel has made it clear that it would not accept a call for an immediate withdrawal of IDF troops.

There are different opinions in Jerusalem, however, about the decision to deploy 15,000 Lebanese army troops in the south announced Sunday by Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, and how this could come into play in the new wording of the cease-fire resolution. While some expressed concern that this was just a ploy to get the IDF to withdraw, while forestalling the deployment of a significant multinational force that would keep Hizbullah from redeploying in the south, others said it could presage a significant change in Lebanon's reality. Olmert, at a press conference after meeting President Moshe Katsav Tuesday, termed the decision an "interesting" one that needed careful consideration.

He said that since the beginning of the military operation, Israel has said its goals were the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the deployment of the Lebanese army on the border, and the dismantling of Hizbullah. Olmert also said Israel must carefully weigh to what extent this deployment is practical. Attention should be paid to the fact that Hizbullah agreed to the deployment of the Lebanese army, he said, as it indicated recognition by Hizbullah that its position in the region has been severely weakened. "The faster we leave south Lebanon, the happier we will be," Olmert said. "Of course we will only do this if we can ensure that we have achieved our goals."
Posted by: Fred 2006-08-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=162389