
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who as Prime Minister initiated the IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May of 2000, rejected any responsibility for the threat posed by the Hezbollah terrorist organization until Israel began its operations deep inside Lebanon.
"This entire tendency to rely on events from 25 years ago and explain the failures and things that were not done in the last 15 years is a weakness of this government, which in my opinion few accept. What determines what happens today is what happened in the last 10 or 15 years, not what happened 25 years ago," Barak said in an interview with Reshet Bet radio.
He added, "I am proud that I withdrew the IDF from Lebanon after 18 years of tragedy that cost a great many victims. I will tell you and anyone who doesn't remember - Hezbollah grew stronger, learned, and improved as a result of the conflict with us, not from the lack of conflict. Anyone who thinks that constant friction with them over 25 years would have resulted in a weaker Hezbollah doesn't understand what he is talking about."
"You can't completely eliminate Hezbollah, since it is spread throughout Lebanon, and even now after this agreement, the trend will be to ensure that the agreement is maintained, and that we don't have to act as much as possible. And of course, when there is something that requires action, Israel is sovereign, it can and must act," Barak said.