German jitters at sea
Germany’s leaders, always uber-cautious about deploying force, no doubt hoped their contribution to the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon—a naval force operating off the coast—would stay well clear of controversy. No such luck. Earlier this week, two Israeli F-16s apparently conducted a low pass over German ships and may even have fired shots (though the IDF denies this). ...
Germany's leaders, always uber-cautious about deploying force, no doubt hoped their contribution to the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon—a naval force operating off the coast—would stay well clear of controversy. No such luck. Earlier this week, two Israeli F-16s apparently conducted a low pass over German ships and may even have fired shots (though the IDF denies this). The Israeli and German governments moved quickly to quell the controversy, but it comes against a backdrop of continued tension between Israeli forces and UNIFIL over Israeli flights in Lebanese airspace.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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