Israel Ignored Warnings Of Lebanon Pullout

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Israel ignored warnings by its European intermediaries
that a unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon would lead to the takeover by the
Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah of the border with the Jewish state.
A Swedish intermediary involved in a backchannel negotiation between
Israel and Hizbullah said he had warned the government of then-Prime
Minister Ehud Barak that any withdrawal from southern Lebanon must be
accompanied by the return of the central government in Beirut. But the
intermediary said the government, primarily then-minister Yossi Beilin,
ignored the warning.