Nearly nine out of 10 Israelis say the army's week-old operation against Hezbollah is justified and nearly 60 percent say Israel should fight until the Lebanese guerrilla group is destroyed, according to an opinion poll published yesterday.
The Dahaf poll, published in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, found that 81 percent of Israelis want the military campaign to continue. Another 78 percent of Israelis are satisfied with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's functioning.
In a surprising statistic, 72 percent said they backed Defense Minister Amir Peretz, whose posting to head the military raised eyebrows just a few months ago. Peretz, formerly a populist union leader, was considered by many not to have the military experience necessary to oversee the army.
The poll of 513 Israelis taken on Monday was the first since Israel launched an offensive against Hezbollah on Wednesday. The poll has an error margin of 4.2 percentage points.
Israel attacked Hezbollah after the guerrilla group made a cross-border raid on a military patrol, killing eight soldiers and capturing two others. Israel has carried out a relentless aerial campaign in Lebanon and its capital Beirut, while Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at Israeli towns and cities.
More than 200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and 24 Israelis have been killed in the fighting.
But unlike during Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, when Israelis were divided over the military presence and public pressure finally forced a withdrawal, this time there is almost back-to-back support for the operation.
According to the opinion poll, 86 percent of Israelis said the current operation was justified and 58 percent said it should continue until Hezbollah is destroyed, even though one-third of the country has been forced underground due to the almost nonstop volleys of rockets being fired on northern Israel.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
UNWAVERING: Paraguay remains steadfast in its support of Taiwan, but is facing growing pressure at home and abroad to switch recognition to Beijing, Pena said Paraguayan President Santiago Pena has pledged to continue enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, as he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait using force, Japanese media reported on Saturday. Kishida yesterday completed a trip to France, Brazil and Paraguay, his first visit to South America since taking office in 2021. After the Japanese leader and Pena spoke for more than an hour on Friday, exchanging views on the situation in East Asia in the face of China’s increasing military pressure on Taiwan, they affirmed that “unilateral attempts to change the