Vacuum

France's refusal to step up and supply troops to the UN peacekeeping mission has opened the door for Indonesia and Malaysia to offer troops.

Neither nation recognizes Israel.

The rank insanity of sending peacekeepers to stand between an armed non-state militia and a nation which the countries involved do not recognize apparently doesn't occur to the UN.

Israeli UN envoy Dan Gillerman was speaking after Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not recognise Israel, pledged troops for the UN deployment.

Malaysia said Israel should have no say in the make-up of the force.

The UN has expressed cautious optimism that it can deploy an initial 3,500-strong force within two weeks.

UN deputy chief Mark Malloch Brown warned earlier that delay could threaten the ceasefire.

But building the force has proved problematical. Mr Malloch Brown said a lot of work was needed in the coming days to meet the two-week deadline.

There is concern that the offers do not necessarily provide the right mix of troops and capabilities needed for the deployment, the BBC's Bridget Kendall in New York says.

A number of countries are calling for clearer guidance on the exact nature of the mission.

….

"It would be very difficult if not inconceivable for Israel to accept troops from countries who do not recognise Israel, who have no diplomatic relations with Israel," he told the BBC.

He said they would be "very happy" to accept troops from Muslim countries they have friendly relations with.

"But to expect countries who don't even recognise Israel to guard Israel's safety I think would be a bit naive," he said.

His comments were dismissed by Malaysia, which, along with Indonesia, has a Muslim majority population.

"We're going to be on Lebanese territory … We're not going to be on Israeli territory," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.

That statement is actually more revealing than I think Albar realized. There really is no reason to believe that UN peacekeepers would actually have any real reason to bother keeping the peace with a nation they dismiss so contemptuously.