By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Monday, June 29, 2009
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) told the Lebanese public Saturday they should not respond to any telephone calls from Israel made in recent days. Phone users have been hearing a pre-recorded voice asking for information regarding missing Israeli soldiers Ron Arad, Guy Hever, Zvi Feldman, Yehuda Katz and Majdy Halabi. Anyone with information about the men are advised to go to a website, which offers a $10 million reward for any proven information that leads to the five men.
Calling the messages a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, the LAF said in a statement, adding that any response to the messages would be considered an act of “clear collaboration” with neighboring Israel.
Beirut considers itself at war with Tel Aviv and bans its citizens from having any contact with Israelis. Those found guilty of collaborating with Israel can be sentenced to death or life imprisonment with hard labor.
Tel Aviv, which has yet to respond to the allegations, has employed similar tactics in the past, most notably during its 34-day war on Lebanon in July-August 2006. Back then, Israel or its associates sent waves of text and voice messages to Lebanese mobile phones warning them against collaborating with Hizbullah. Israel also infiltrated the Shiite group’s television station, Al-Manar, which it unsuccessfully tried to take off air.
Israel has been accused of intermittently sending similar messages to the Lebanese since the end of the 2006 hostilities. In July 2008, incumbent Telecommunications Minister Jibran Bassil sent a letter to then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Major-General Claudio Graziano to complain about Israel’s phone line interference. More recently, Bassil accused Tel Aviv of bungling Lebanese phone signals in the run up to and during Lebanon’s parliamentary elections on June 7. “There are known sources of interference from the sea and air,” he said earlier this month, urging Lebanon’s incumbent Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh to file a formal complaint against Israel at the UN.
As part of a prisoner swap in July 2008, Hizbullah gave Israel a confidential report saying pilot Ron Arad was captured in 1986 by the Shiite Amal movement, but died trying to reach Israel on foot after managing to escape. Israel, which considers Arad as still alive, called the report unsatisfactory.
The latest accusations against Tel Aviv come at a time of heightened tension between Israel and Lebanon, following the discovery of several espionage cells. At least 30 people in Lebanon have been detained on suspicion of spying for Israel, and at least 15 have been formally charged, among them two Lebanese army officials. Three suspected spies have fled to Israel with their families in recent months, according to Lebanese officials.
