An exhibition organized by the IDF last week, displaying seized Hezbollah weapons last week, provided a rare look at the vast weapons array acquired by the Iranian-backed terror army in Lebanon.
There is no substitute for visually seeing the scope of the threat that faced Israel, and particularly Israel’s northern communities. Although the exhibition’s contents were not totally surprising, and Hezbollah’s firepower, as well as its invasion and massacre plans for northern Israel, were well known, personally seeing the actual evidence was quite overwhelming.
One was struck right away by the sheer number of weapons on exhibit. It was a graphic confirmation of long-held intelligence estimates on Hezbollah’s stockpile, comprising about 250,000 warheads. From short-range rockets to sophisticated precision-guided missiles, to RPGs, the show featured a broad spectrum of weapons.
What on exhibit was only a small piece of the whole arsenal Hezbollah had possessed since major amounts were destroyed in Israeli strikes during the war.
Not less remarkable were the kinds of tools Hezbollah used. Beyond rockets, materials and tools specifically meant for tunneling and underground operations existed. This includes tools for building and strengthening tunnels. One exhibit included showed how Hezbollah had developed advanced tunneling methods.
Seeing the display set off conflicting feelings. One could feel pride in Israel’s capacity to neutralize such a strong enemy on one hand. Gathering these weapons and destroying much of Hezbollah’s military capacity is evidence of the IDF’s powerful capabilities. Still, there was also dissatisfaction and worry. How was Hezbollah allowed to expand its arsenal to this degree? This is a question that will continue to haunt us, and should guide us as we navigate the current events in the region.
The source of the weaponry is another critical issue. Many of the weapons crates were marked in English and made in Iran, such as rockets, explosives, machine guns, and recoilless guns. But a significant quantity of the weapons originated from Russia, and much of that was sent originally to the Syrian Defense Ministry.
The idea that Russia did not know that its weapons were reaching Hezbollah seems far-fetched.
In the end, the exhibition served as a deeply sobering reminder of the dangers Israel confronts. It underlined the need for continuous vigilance and readiness. Neutralizing Hezbollah’s weaponry will let Israel achieve both a strategic and a tactical triumph. It also emphasizes, nevertheless, the crucial importance of tackling the fundamental causes that allowed Hezbollah to become this heavily armed in the first place.
