MANIPAL, India, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Although
both are democracies, Israel and India are polar opposites in their response to
"asymmetrical" warfare -- also known as terrorism. While India until
now has consistently adopted a soft -- some would say soggy -- policy toward
the Pakistani army's tactics of using jihadis to weaken India socially,
militarily and economically, Israel has almost invariably responded with force
to similar tactics by Hamas, Hezbollah and other jihadist organizations that
seek to attack the Jewish state.
In both Lebanon and Gaza, Hezbollah and
Hamas, respectively, have not concealed the fact that they regard themselves as
being at war with Israel. Those who voted for either certainly must have
understood that the coming to office of these two military formations would
mean war with Israel, a conflict in which both sides would be expected to
deploy the forces available to them. The citizens of Lebanon are now
discovering the likely consequences if they elect Hezbollah to power, the way
Gazans did with Hamas in the last election.
While Shiite Hezbollah depends almost
entirely on Iran for its resources and on Syria for infrastructural support, Sunni
Hamas gets funding from well-wishers across the world, including a number in
Europe and North America who route their contributions through safe channels.
Although accurate estimates are difficult, an average of four informed
guesstimates puts the Iranian contribution at 35 percent of the total funds
made available to Hamas.