Dore Gold: Give UNIFIL a mandate 'to clean out' southern Lebanon

“I hope that none of those criticizing Israel’s warfare needs to face this dilemma, but it is part of our responsibility as a country, and especially as a Jewish country,” Dr. Gold said.

dore gold 298.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
dore gold 298.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and former foreign ministry director-general Dr. Dore Gold called on the UN Security Council to act in accordance with Resolution 1701, which dates to the Second Lebanon War in 2006, to clean out the illegal weapons held by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
"There are about 200 Shiite villages in southern Lebanon," Gold said during a lecture at the Hudson Institute in Washington. "Many residents have prohibited weapons in their homes. They accept payment for it or are simply too frightened to refuse the terrorists' request."
In his remarks, Dr. Gold criticized the UN Security Council for not condemning Hezbollah, despite the fact that the organization acted in contradiction to the Council's 2006 decision, saying that he did not believe they would do so in the future.
Last month the IDF uncovered an observation post used by Hezbollah on the northern border under the guise of the fictitious environmental NGO "Green Without Borders," the sixth such post discovered in recent years.
“I hope that none of those criticizing Israel’s warfare need to face this dilemma, but it is part of our responsibility as a country, and especially as a Jewish country,” Gold said.
In his speech to the United Nations Security Council in September, Prime Minister Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of shielding its massive missile stock-piles behind civilian buildings, including in areas close to Beirut's international airport, serving as well as Iran's proxy organization.
Michael Wilner and Anna Ahronheim contributed to this report.