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Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah giving a speech in Beirut in May. (AP) del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 06:35 16/10/2007 ANALYSIS: Israel, Hezbollah need no trust building measures By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah does not like making small-scale deals, and Monday's prisoner swap was a "small deal," both in terms of the value that Hezbollah received and the price it paid Israel. Neither Hezbollah nor Israel need "confidence-building measures," because at issue here are not long-term processes of mutual recognition or a wide-reaching change in Israeli and Lebanese bilateral policy. There is already a tradition of trust between Israel and Hezbollah with regard to exchange agreements and total distrust in every other sphere. The conclusion that must be drawn is that this was a down payment on a broader deal. Can new, significant information about missing Israeli navigator Ron Arad now be expected? It is doubtful that such information would be given to Israel in exchange for the release of a minor Hezbollah activist and two bodies. In the past, Hezbollah demanded a much greater payment, and it is punctilious about not releasing any new information whatsoever about abducted Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Advertisement Sources in Lebanon said Monday that they believed the background for the current swap was an Israeli promise to release a large number of prisoners, including not only Lebanese but also other Palestinian and Arab prisoners being held in Israel as part of a wider deal. Such a deal is likely to include the release of the Israeli captives, and Monday's deal was requested by Israel, which must prepare public opinion for the release of these Arab prisoners. According to one of these Lebanese sources, the latest deal originated with Germany's desire to demonstrate to the Israelis that the drawn-out negotiations for the release of Regev and Goldwasser had not hit a dead end, and that Hezbollah has an interest in continuing to negotiate. The analysis of the Lebanese sources, however, stumbled when it came to explaining the timing of the current deal and determining whether it implied that the big deal has been concluded and yesterday's exchange was in effect the start of its implementation, which will continue to unfold in the days or weeks to come. The answer to that will apparently come today, in the announcement that is expected to come from Nasrallah. He seeks to prove that the deal was an important achievement for him and for Lebanon, and for that he will have to detail the nature of that achievement. After all, Nasrallah has not yet made good on his "historic" promise to obtain the release of Samir Kuntar, and two bodies and a single Lebanese detainee certainly cannot be considered an achievement. Related articles: Israel, Hezbollah conduct first swap since 2006 war; report: Deal included information on Ron Arad Israel denies it believes troops captured by Hezbollah are dead Germany denies assassins' early release was part of deal with Iran Germany to set free Iranian assassin despite Israel's plea Bookmark to del.icio.us Part of Jerusalem? PM Olmert questions whether Arab neighborhoods should be defined as part of the capital. Who is a Jew? Israel's draft constitution states that 'every Jew is entitled to immigrate to Israel.'

Today Online Editorial: Hail Rice for paving the way for dividing the land Responses: 2 Daniel Ben Simon: Once-moderate Shas moves to extreme right Send response Polish rightist party slammed for anti-Semitic campaign ad Responses: 13 Likud urges Shas, Lieberman to quit gov't over PM's J'lem hints Responses: 9 Haaretz.com TV: Despite lobby's power, U.S. Jews are losing their bond to Israel Responses: 88 Rosner's Domain * Rice "understand risks to announcing a meeting" (WTR) * Guest: How to stop Hamas from spoiling Annapolis? * McCain is the pro-peace process GOP candidate * Poll: Is Rice's effort brave, pathetic, realistic, dangerous? More Headlines 09:00 Report: Swap gives Israel papers with Arad's writing 06:35 ANALYSIS: Israel, Hezbollah need no trust building measures 09:22 Two Palestinians, including one militant, killed in IDF Nablus raid 06:53 Likud urges Shas, Lieberman to quit gov't over PM's 'intention' 07:01 Cartoon spat prompts Shas to quit Knesset religious lobby 06:43 Abductees' families cautiously optimistic over Hezbollah deal 03:56 Balad activist murdered on doorstep of his business in Lod 05:32 Justice Minister orders drafting of bill limiting length of criminal probes 06:15 Medical students prefer not to intern in Israel's periphery 23:17 Polish right-wing party accused of running anti-Semitic campaign ad Previous Editions Select Day 15 oct 14 oct 12 oct 11 oct 10 oct 09 oct 08 oct 07 oct 05 oct 04 oct 03 oct 02 oct

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