Rivlin on Lebanon war: Heroism, fortitude overcame shortfalls

President Reuven Rivlin tells a ceremony marking ten years since the Second Lebanon War that the bravery and determination of IDF troops during the conflict compensated for failures in military planning.

The president says the conflict was “a war in which devotion to the goal, the camaraderie, determination, sacrifice, and dedication of the fighters and commanders covered the failures and flaws exposed in the levels of preparedness. A war in which heroism and fortitude defeated what was discovered lacking in the emergency stockpiles and equipment.”

Speaking at the official state ceremony at military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Rivlin says that the defeat of Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah in the 33-day war has brought a lasting calm to the northern border, but warns the Shiite organization still seeks to destroy the Jewish state.

“Hezbollah received a severe blow during that battle,” he says. “The State of Israel discouraged its opponents and in the last decade since the end the Second Lebanon War, quiet has returned to the north, tourism is booming, and communities are growing. But we must internalize the essence of the threat that we face, and listen at all times to the sounds of war bubbling beneath the deceptive calm. Hezbollah continues to rearm itself and it has not ceased in its efforts to destroy Israel.”

Rivlin also hails the IDF for studying its failures during the war and implementing change, a characteristic he says has helped Israel to survive in the face of adversity.

“The ability to thoroughly investigate, the ability to criticize and to conduct a comprehensive learning process which includes making comprehensive changes as we did following the Second Lebanon War, is not to be taken for granted,” he says. “It is a testimony to the power of the State of Israel. This is our strength. This is our fortitude. We must continue to be that way.”

The president always pays tribute to the soldiers who fell in the war: “It’s been a decade since the war, and every day, every hour, every minute and second you seek solace; and there is none. May the memory of our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, dear loved ones be engraved in our hearts forever. May their souls be bound in eternal life,” he says.