The Vatican crossed the line Israel has drawn separating those committed to quelling Iranian ambition in the Middle East and those committed to destroying Israel by issuing a statement that says the Vatican “deplores” Israel’s attack on Lebanon. This, despite the fact that it is common knowledge Iran and Syria prompted Hezbollah to begin a war with Israel, and that both Israel and Lebanon are victims of this war.

“Outgoing Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, speaking about the current Israeli-Hezbollah conflict on Vatican radio, said that ‘a state’s right to self-defense does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law, especially as regards the protection of civilian populations. In particular, the Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon …’” (L.A. Daily News,July 26).

It is true that Israel has undertaken a muscular defense of its right to a peaceful existence, and it is steamrollering Hezbollah-controlled portions of southern Lebanon, but in no way is Israel breaking or twisting international law as Sodano implies. Israel is well within its rights to defend itself when attacked.

Also, it is unfair to speak as though Israel is targeting Lebanon itself, or as if Lebanon is an innocent country. In fact, Hezbollah is so entrenched in southern Lebanon, few even know to what extent. The Times Online of July 23 reported,

In its power base in southern Lebanon, particularly south Beirut and the Bekaa valley, it is possible for a visitor to spend a whole week without stepping outside a Hezbollah business unit: the hotel he checks into, the restaurant he eats in, the taxi that takes him around, the guide who shows him the sights and the shop where he buys souvenirs all belong to the party.Hezbollah is a state within the Lebanese state. It controls some 25 percent of the national territory. Almost 400,000 of Lebanon’s estimated 4 million inhabitants live under its control. It collects its own taxes with a 20 percent levy, known as “khoms,” on all incomes. It runs its own schools, where a syllabus produced in Iran is taught at all levels. It also runs clinics, hospitals, social welfare networks and centers for orphans and widows.The party controls the elected municipal councils and appoints local officials, who in theory should be selected by the central government in Beirut. To complete its status as a virtual state, the party maintains a number of unofficial “embassies”: the one in Tehran is bigger and has a larger number of staff than that of Lebanon itself.Hezbollah also has its own media including a satellite television channel, Al-Manar (the lighthouse), which is watched all over the Arab world, four radio stations, newspapers and magazines plus a book publishing venture. The party has its own system of justice based on sharia and operates its own police force, courts and prisons. Hezbollah runs youth clubs, several football teams and a number of matrimonial agencies.

For this reason, southern Lebanon is referred to in some circles as Hezbollistan.

The Vatican has some of the most advanced intelligence gathering capabilities in the world. For it not to be aware of Hezbollah’s iron grip on southern Lebanon and the fact that Hezbollah started this war would represent a grandiose failure of its intelligence gathering network, especially considering the general public has access to this. Israel has been quite measured and strategic in its strikes—overwhelmingly seeking to degrade, not a country, but the ability of Hezbollah to continue its terrorist attacks.

Taking Sodano at his word, then, the Vatican has decided to side against Israel. But with its denunciation against Israel, it has also displayed its true colors. Despite Pope John Paul ii’s efforts to thaw a frosty relationship with Israel during his papacy, trying to paint a new face on an old Vatican veneer, Israel should know that history teaches it cannot trust the Vatican to champion its interests. The statement also should warn Israel about the danger in Vatican initiatives to draw closer to Israel and its crown jewel, Jerusalem.