International reactions to the 2006 Lebanon War 39% disapproved, and 16% were not sure. When asked to think about the events of the past week in the Middle East, 54% of Americans answered that their sympathies are more with Israel, 11% answered more with Arab nations, 11% both, 11% neither, and 13% not sure. In August 2006, University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer accused Israel of using the kidnapping of its soldiers by Hezbollah as an excuse to attack Lebanon and start the 2006 Lebanon War. Mearsheimer stated that "Israel had been planning to strike at Hezbollah for months. Key Israelis had briefed the administration about
Kidnapping of Jalal Sharafi Hosseini said, "elements related to the Iraqi defence ministry who are known to be under U.S. control" were responsible for the kidnapping and the U.S. government has "violated all international and diplomatic norms by launching such operations which will in general have negative impacts on diplomatic norms around the world." Iran said it held the United States responsible for the diplomats "safety and life." Iran harshly condemned the kidnapping of an Iranian diplomat as a "terrorist act." The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "We learned with concern about the kidnapping of a member of the Iranian embassy in