Copyright 2002 Jerusalem Post
Jerusalem Post
April 12, 2002
HEADLINE: Hizbullah offers to trade Tannenbaum
BYLINE: Matthew Gutman
Hizbullah continued to attack Israel from Lebanon
yesterday, firing mortars and anti-tank grenades at IDF positions on Mount
Dov and Mount Hermon.
The IDF responded by pounding Hizbullah positions inside Lebanon with
artillery and missiles from fighter jets, a Northern Command spokesman
said. There were no IDF casualties.
"If these attacks continue, despite the pressure of non-Shi'ite Lebanese
groups trying to stop Hizbullah's attacks for fear that Beirut will be
targeted," said the spokesman, "eventually Israel will be forced to
retaliate. If it does, Hizbullah will be solely responsible."
Yesterday's barrages came hours after Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan
Nasrallah offered to swap Israeli businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum, who was
abducted from Europe in October 2000, in exchange for a guarantee that
Israel would spare the lives of some 100 Palestinians still holed up in
Jenin's refugee camp.
Nasrallah also said he would work with any mediator to hash out the
details of the swap.
A Beirut representative for the International Committee of the Red Cross,
Henri Fournier, met yesterday with the head of Hizbullah's security
committee, Wafik Safa, to discuss the offer, which Hizbullah said the Red
Cross would follow up in shuttle trips among Lebanon, Geneva, and Israel.
In response, Tannenbaum's son appealed in English on Channel 1 last night
to US Secretary of State Colin Powell to intervene.
"For the first time since my father's abduction, Hizbullah publicly
suggested a deal that would bring him back home. I implore you at this
time to intervene personally with Hizbullah's patron, President Assad of
Syria, to ensure that no harm comes to my father, who is unwell, and to
expedite his safe return to us as soon as possible."
Israeli officials chose not to respond publicly to Nasrallah's offer. One
senior Defense Ministry official said, "Look at [Nasrallah's] record. How
can we take [the offer] seriously? He is an expert at manipulation." He
added that it would in no way affect Israel's sweeping of Palestinian
towns for terrorists.
Another senior government official said the government is treating
Nasrallah's offer very cautiously, because it is ruse aimed only at
hurting Israel and inflicting greater psychological damage on the families
of its MIAs and POWs.
Unlike other Israeli hostages held by Hizbullah, Tannenbaum - said to have
been abducted while on business in Lausanne, Switzerland - was a civilian
captured in the heart of Europe, not along the Israeli-Lebanese border. A
week before his abduction Hizbullah captured three Israeli soldiers on the
Israeli side of the border.
Officials close to the case believe the swap offer might in part be an
effort by Hizbullah to deflect domestic flak for its escalation of attacks
on Israeli positions in recent weeks. By putting Israel off guard, and
reminding it even obliquely that Tannenbaum's fate rests in their hands,
Hizbullah and Nasrallah believe they are sparing Beirut or other Lebanese
cities from a massive Israeli retaliation to the ongoing bombardments, the
officials said.
Danny Eisen, director of the International Coalition for Missing Israeli
Soldiers (ICMIS), also cautioned against undue optimism. He warned that
every move and word out of Hizbullah, which is notorious for manipulating
the media and Israel's heartstrings, must be very carefully examined.
"Kidnapping," said Eisen, "is the cheapest and perhaps most formidable
weapon in the terrorists' hands and can be waved cruelly in front of
Israeli families for an indefinite period of time."