August 21, 2006: Hizbollah has been training infantry fighters for over twenty years. This effort has paid off, especially since Hizbollah had the advantage of receiving Iranian trainers and advisors. Despite the 1979 revolution, and witch hunts of the 1980s, the Iranian military still retains a lot of the good training habits, many passed on to them by American trainers over several decades, back when the Shah ran the country. Moreover, the Iranians have long been the most effective soldiers in the region. So there really shouldn't have been any surprise in what happened in south Lebanon, when some of the Hizbollah gunmen offered stiff resistance against Israeli infantry.
Hizbollah is one of the few Arab armies to really train its troops to professional standards. Israeli intelligence appears to have realized this. Prior to the Israeli operation in southern Lebanon, there were reports that Hizbollah had some of the best trained troops in the Middle East. Even that dumb-looking jogging march they do suggested that; as it takes time and discipline to get people to perform that particular exercise. Apparently senior Israeli military personnel chose to assume the intel assessments were inflated; "After all, they're only another bunch of Arabs."
The Israeli troops who have been operating on the Lebanese border for the last two decades knew better. The Israeli have over a decade of experience fighting Hizbollah, and the brigades in northern Israel knew what they were up against. But, somehow, this information tended to evaporate as it traveled south. Many Israeli generals, journalists and politicians continued to think Hizbollah would be little more than a road bump, if the Israeli army decided to go north. As it turned out, Hizbollah was not a particularly substantial opponent, but they did provide more resistance than the generals, but not the Israeli reservists from northern Israel, expected.
Hizbollah was more professional than most Arab troops in a number of important ways. For one thing, they took good care of their weapons. They worked out combat drills that took into account Israeli tactics. Most importantly, junior leaders were trained to act alone, something most Arab armies discourage.
The Hizbollah experience is not likely to influence other Arab armies, mainly because Hizbollah sees itself on a Mission From God, and thus able to discard ancient customs. Most Arabs are reluctant to do this, and continue to produce inept infantry.