JERUSALEM — The flight over Israel of an unmanned Hezbollah spy plane has deeply embarrassed the Jewish state’s air force, which has prided itself for decades on having total control of the region’s skies. “Breach in aerial security.
Air force embarrassed. Hezbollah sees all,” read yesterday’s front-page headline in Israel’s top-selling daily Yediot Ahronot. “And what if next time the drone carries a bomb?” asked the daily Ma’ariv.
The Lebanese resistance group announced on Sunday it had sent the drone over “northern Palestine” (Israel) in retaliation for repeated violations of Lebanese airspace by Israel, deemed “Zionist attacks on Lebanese sovereignty”. Hezbollah also warned that it could carry out more such flights.
After several hours of complete silence from the Israeli military about the incident, the army finally confirmed the overflight of its territory. “This morning, an Iranian UAV (unmanned air vehicle) operated by the Hezbollah terror organization infiltrated into Israel over the western Galilee,” a military spokesman said.
The army said the spy plane, launched from southern Lebanon, flew along Israel’s Mediterranean coast as far as the resort of Nahariyah before returning north to Lebanon. Hezbollah said the flight lasted 20 minutes, a claim corroborated by the UN peacekeeping force in the region, UNIFIL.
“We must know immediately how it’s possible for such a rudimentary device to pass through the Israeli army’s heavy air defenses, in which billions have been invested,” said opposition Labour MP Eitan Cabel. Cabel asked the leader of Parliament’s foreign affairs and defense committee to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the spy plane infiltration.
