It was two years ago this month that Israel and Hizbullah went to war.
On July 12, 2006, Hizbullah, an Iranian-sponsored and Syrian-backed political and terrorist organization, staged an unprovoked raid across the Lebanon-Israel border, killing three Israelis and kidnapping two others, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. The war that ensued – a war for which Hizbullah had openly prepared for six years, constructing fortified bunkers and amassing thousands of Katyusha artillery rockets along the border – was a disaster for Israel. The fighting lasted for 33 bloody days, during which Israel achieved none of its key objectives: it didn’t destroy Hizbullah, it didn’t stop the barrage of rockets slamming into its northern cities, and it didn’t rescue its kidnapped soldiers.

Never before had Israel’s deterrent capability and its reputation for military indomitableness suffered such a blow. For the first time in its history, Israel had faced an Arab army in battle and failed to defeat it. When the hostilities ended with the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Hizbullah was still on its feet, bloodied but decidedly unbowed.

Two years on, Israel is still paying for its defeat.