Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon
Was the event exploited politically to improve negotiating positions?
May 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon.
It was the only time Israel has withdrawn from an Arab country without negotiations or warning – and was supposed to change the way Israel is perceived in the Middle East.
Ten years on, Inside Story looks at the impact of that withdrawal and asks:
How criticial was it in boosting the strength and popularity of Hezbollah?
Why this exception to the normal flow of events in the Arab-Israeli conflict?
And, what is the state of Lebanese-Israeli relations now?
Joining the programme are Ibrahim Mousawi, Hezbollah’s head of media relations, Robert Fisk, the Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, and Charlie Wolf, a political commentator and columnist for The Jewish News.
This episode of Inside Story aired from Sunday, May 23, 2010.