The Arab Army That Could

What Hezbollah has accomplished is interesting in two ways. First, it has demonstrated a viable and low-cost defense strategy against a modern military. Ian Welsh has written an excellent assessment of the situation at the Agonist. Second, it represents the first time an Arab force has been able to go up against the IDF with demonstrable success. The importance of this should not be underestimated; the idea of Israeli invincibility has influenced decision-making throughout the region for many years. Israel is not yet vulnerable, but it will be, and everyone knows it. Combined with demographic shifts, the Israelis have no more than a half-century in which to engineer a peace. (I do not mean that it is their responsibility; I mean that it is necessary for their survival.)