17 Tamuz

[cellio]

On the 17th of Tamuz in the year 70 CE, the Romans, bent on destroying Israel, breeched the walls of Jerusalem. Three weeks later they destroyed the temple.

On the 17th day of Tamuz in 2006, Hezbollah, bent on destroying Israel and apparently backed by Lebanon and Syria, attacked Haifa and Carmiel.

I'm not superstitious, but the coincidence was not lost on me.

This cannot end well, so I hope it at least ends quickly.

Comments

[sethg]

Note that Hezbollah and Hamas are difficult for Israel to fight precisely because Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority have weak central governments and can't really control the various sectarian militias operating in their territories--like the Jewish authorities in the late Second Temple era. Meanwhile, Israel has the most technologically advanced and best-trained professional army in the region, and its neighbors regard it as a foreign oppressor--like the Roman Empire in the Second Temple era.

No, this can't end well.