Copyright 2003 Haaretz
September 26
HEADLINE: Black Box / Leave it to Sheikh Nasrallah
BYLINE: Benny Ziffer
In a quasi-tired voice, Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz replied on Tuesday ("Six O'Clock with Gabi
Gazit," Channel 2, 6 P.M.) to reporters' questions
about progress in the negotiations to bring back
the Israeli prisoners being held by Hezbollah and
Hezbollah's demand that Israel release Palestinian
prisoners as part of the exchange. "Today ... ah,"
Mofaz said, drawling the "ah," "it seems from the
statements by [Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan]
Nasrallah. ..." Then he emitted another "ah"
before uttering the words, "Israeliprison." And
afterward, without an "ah," but in a tone of deep
melancholy: "We have no intention of releasing
[Fatah-Tanzim leader Marwan] Barghouti."
We have no intention, but maybe
in the future we will have an
intention. And between Mofaz's
one "ah"and the next, I saw in
my mind's eye the following
scene: Mofaz, with the
tormented face, announces in a
meeting of the security cabinet
that because it's impossible
to trust Palestinian Authority
Chairman Yasser Arafat, the
only person we can still trust to fight against
us in the region is Nasrallah. In my mind's eye
I also see hugs and kisses because in their
hearts, the security people like those who most
defy them to fight. If it weren't for
Nasrallah, we would run out of enemies, and
then what will become of all the security
people?
In other words, if Nasrallah didn't exist we
would have to invent him. If only - and this is
the main thing - to extricate us from the mire
that we found we were plunged into when we
arrested Barghouti. Mofaz's "ah" thus expressed
above all thanks to Allah, for at last getting
it into Nasrallah's head to ask for
ah-Barghouti's release from his ah-Israeli
ah-prison.