The United Nations has proposed that UNIFIL troops take over security in the northern half of the border village of Ghajar, so that IDF forces can withdraw behind the Israel side of the international border. Israel has rejected this proposal and says any future consideration of the matter requires that the Lebanese government agree to it in writing.
The new plan was presented to Israel during a number of meetings between UNIFIL officials and senior Israeli figures, including Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, who met last month with the commander of the UN forces in southern Lebanon, Major General Claudio Graziano.
According to the UN plan, UNIFIL will assume control and full responsibility over security in the northern part of the village. It will also provide all necessary services to the residents there.
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During his meeting with Ashkenazi, Graziano noted that details of the proposal have also been given to the Lebanese government and its armed forces.
In its official response, Israel noted that the issue is not relevant at this stage, especially because Lebanon rejected a similar deal a year ago. In March 2007, Israel's security-political cabinet authorized an agreement under which the Israel Defense Forces would withdraw from the northern section of Ghajar; its positions would be taken over by UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army, which would provide security.
According to Israel's proposal, Israel would continue to provide services to the village's civilian population.
The Lebanese government rescinded the agreement and did not implement it, in part because of the political crisis in the country.
Senior officials in Israel have since required as a precondition that any future discussion on the matter be accompanied by a signed, official agreement by the Lebanese government.
Israeli officials are frustrated by the failures in implementing Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the Second Lebanon War; they are specifically unhappy about the conduct of Hezbollah. Senior political sources in Jerusalem noted that "there is no intention to discuss the Ghajar issue as long as issues that trouble Israel are not being dealt with."
As such, in addition to the official Israeli response on the UN proposal on Ghajar, a list of reasons for Israel's opposition to the new offer were included.
Among the military reasons for Israel's rejection of the offer is that the IDF considers Ghajar to be a significant weak point in defenses along the northern border. In addition, the IDF considers Ghajar to be strategically important from an intelligence-gathering standpoint and its ability to foil Hezbollah attacks, particularly attempts to carry out kidnappings.
The IDF also believes that even though UNIFIL is willing, and is operating in the area in force, the international force is not deployed in a way that would allow it to carry out the kind of complex operations required to ensure Israel's security.
From a diplomatic point of view, Israel is dissatisfied with the way SC Resolution 1701 is being implemented, particularly in the way Hezbollah has been permitted to reinforce its position south of the Litani River and to continue smuggling weapons from Syria and Iran.
The question of Ghajar is one of the last issues in which the UN has demands on Israel related to Resolution 1701, and there are concerns that if the matter is resolved the international community will lack the motivation to deal with the issues that trouble Israel.
"After this is resolved, who will remember Hezbollah's smuggling?" a political source in Jerusalem said, adding that "the issue of Ghajar is bothering the UN and Lebanon, but it is a minor issue."
