Monday's retreat signals mounting panic in the ranks of the SLA, which effectively has been put on notice that their protector will be leaving town. More troubling for Israel is that neither Syria nor Lebanon -- neither of whom are fans of the Hezbollah -- is in any rush to fill the resulting security vacuum. There's little enthusiasm in Beirut for helping the Israelis out of what is perceived as a mess of their own making. And any security deal would have to be approved by Syria, which holds a de facto military veto power over the decisions of the enfeebled authority in Beirut. Before covering Israel's back in southern Lebanon, Damascus wants to discuss Israeli withdrawal from the Syrian territory it has occupied since 1967.
Last Out of Lebanon, Turn Out the Lights
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New Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak promised to pull Israel out of its Lebanon quagmire in a year; Israel's local proxy army may not wait that long. The South Lebanon Army, which was created by Israel in 1985 to help patrol its self-declared "security zone" inside southern Lebanon, withdrew from the Jezzine enclave Monday, under fire from Hezbollah guerrillas as they went. With the local SLA commander acknowledging that the withdrawal was prompted by mounting casualties at the hands of Hezbollah, the retreat is a significant victory for the Iran-backed movement's protracted war of attrition. Israel's possible withdrawal, too, is prompted by concerns over continuing casualties, although Barak wants to negotiate security arrangements with the Lebanese and Syrian governments before a final pullout.