Barak cancels Spain trip amid UNIFIL leadership crisis
Earlier this month PM Netanyahu asked Italy to remain in charge of UN Interim force in Lebanon.
By Barak Ravid Tags: UNIFIL Ehud Barak Spain Israel newsDefense Minister Ehud Barak cancelled his scheduled visit to Madrid on Friday as tension grows between Israel and Spain due to a disagreement over the command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
A top ministry official denied that the trip was suspended as a result of the diplomatic disaccord and said that Barak's schedule has changed due to an unforeseen emergency trip to Washington next week.
The Israeli embassy in Madrid and Spanish diplomatic sources confirmed the suspension of the visit, which was scheduled for November 4 and 5.
Following the reported speculations Barak phoned the Spanish Foreign Minister and said that the reason for the trips' sudden cancellation was due to the fact that he will be joining the Prime Minister on his U.S. visit next week.
Ministry officials confirmed the conversation and said that his Spanish counterpart accepted the explanation gracefully.
Earlier this month Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly asked Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to keep his country in charge of the United Nations force in Lebanon rather than handing control to Spain as planned, causing chagrin in Madrid.
In making the request of Italy earlier this month, Netanyahu sided with the Israel Defense Forces' argument that Israel should make an effort to keep Italy's Major General Claudio Graziano in charge of the UN Interim Force in Lebonon for at least another six months beyond the scheduled end of his term in a few weeks.
The IDF said that though there was no problem with Spanish command of UNIFIL in general, the situation in Lebanon is very sensitive at this time and replacing the UNIFIL commander now is liable to cause difficulties in coordination and destabilize the situation.
The Foreign Ministry, however, said Israel should not get involved in the planned change in command, so as not to insult the major European countries that take part in UNIFIL - Italy, France and Spain, which are due to decide shortly who will be the next commander - and to avoid unnecessary friction. The ministry also said the issue involved a political struggle among the European countries that revolves around their international reputations and their roles in the Afghanistan war.
A Spanish diplomat questioned Israel's argument, asking in a conversation with Haaretz: "What does a 'sensitive period in Lebanon' mean? When isn't there tension in Lebanon? What kind of argument is this?"
Spanish officials were also angered by the initial concealment of the conversation between Netanyahu and Berlusconi, a lack of coordination between the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry and the wrong messages the Spanish government received.
Barak and Spanish leaders had been due to discuss issues including the command of the UNIFIL troops which include more than 2,000 Italian and about 1,100 Spanish troops.
Italian General Claudio Graziano is due to hand the command over to a Spanish general in early 2010.
Spanish media reports have claimed Italy wants to retain the command of the troops for longer than planned for reasons including Graziano's career interests.
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Spain...UNIFIL, Who needs the Spannish unit near our borders ? We don't allow them to start bonfires !
u know, when israel is frank (Lieberman) they are thugs who cannot conduct diplomatic dialogue. When they are sublte then they are cowards. Now which is it?
This is one of those moments where the intersection of Ideology and Reality exposes both. "Israel has asked Italy to try to remain at the head of the 13,000-strong UNIFIL force for at least another six months rather than handing over to Spain as planned, a senior Israeli official told AFP Thursday." - AFP via The Daily Star The ideological view is that UNIFIL and it's current commander is an anti-Semite, anti-Israel organization dedicated to helping Hisbollah destroy Israel. The reality is that Israel is secretly (until now) happy with the job UNIFIL has been doing. Believing in an idiotology is so much easier than staying informed and thinking about reality, but every now and then reality will intrude upon the most carefully constructed psychosis.
Yes, Tim. He may have cancelled so does not get arrested. No one should get away for killing children and women, needlessly.
Food for thought.
what you claim.
and run a parrallel unelected,pro Iran and Syrian govt,in Lebanon.
fortuna, no it is not our prime mimister only. it is israel's not very smart policy of brutal occupation, killing of women and children, destroying civilian infrastructure that is paid for by european citizens and much more,including the use of illegal weapons. this is why eurpoe and europeans are turning against israel and its policies. even the us is changing. i hope that your government wakes up. Hola amiga.
Or is the bill pre-paid (for his whole entourage). These rich socialists are disgusting.
because of some imaginary crisis with UNIFIL. Barak didn't go to Spain because he would have been arrested as a war criminal. Problem is many Israelis will believe the official version because they have been programmed not to think for themselves.
Not an Arab one. Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia likewise are all of European origin. A direct result of the incompetent administration of the ME on the part of the Asquith government after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire after WWI. Israel is the only "real" country in the ME.
Israel's former friends are falling like flies.
Spanish military isn't better or worse than the Italian. But the left-leaning, Muslim hugging, "Alliance-of-Civilizations"-touting José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero PSOE government is just antisemitically correct, and will please Hezbollistan throwing Israel into the oven. Israel did the right thing asking Italy to Patrol the UNSC Res. 1701 regions of southern Lebanon.
makes more friends every day
UNIFIL, In this case it's preferable to have Italy rather than Spain. Why beat about the bush ? Come out openly & say it. You'll be respected for being straight forward & frank. Try it, & see how well it works in Israel's favour.
others...Turkey, Spain...way to go Bibi.
Where Israel is concerned, it's what they do.
Graziano has a lot of friends in Lebanon and enjoys a great relationship with the Lebanese Army Command and Hezbollah.
In ordinary languagae it is called 'lies'.
because is not of israel business the change of unifil chief, is the UN and Lebanon concern. the next move will be to relocate the UNIFIL inside occupied Pals then u may hve an half of opinion about that.
NATO has clear protocols for unified command and the rotation of force commanders between participating nations. These are agreed at the outset when the force requirement is generated. It has worked perfectly well in Bosnia, Kosovo, Macecdonia, the standing naval and air forces, etc. What for would they need Netanyahu trying to meddle in things that are not his concern? He overlooks that Israel is one of the countries UNIFIL is there to keep a close eye on, they are not Israel's military partners. Bibi keeps getting on the stage and making a mess of things, like continually putting in his two penniworth about Iran, which is of course like a red rag to a bull in Tehran and of negative assistance to the negotiators. Could someone PLEASE tie him in a chair and gag him, before he does any more clumsy disservice to Israel? He really is a bit of a verbose clown.
do you remember in september...Spain's foreign minister canceled a meeting with his Israeli counterpart to hold talks with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Israel always knows how to create divisions elsewhere and then pretends to be surprised. One of reasons why it is so popular.
is afraid of arabs". Said by him on the BBC's "Hard Talk" Israel shouldn't bother to react to Euro politicos pronouncements and criticism ,if the Italian UNIFIL commander is preferable to a Spanish one Israel should try to influence in this direction if possible at all.