Israel Falls into a Familiar Trap

The sides agreed to form three working groups to discuss border security, the current IDF deployment at five bases in Lebanon, and settle longstanding border disputes. Despite what was widely reported, Lebanese officials denied that normalizing relations with Israel was on the agenda.

David Mencer, who conducts daily briefings for the English-language media on behalf of the prime minister’s office, clarified that Israel’s goals are to stabilize the region and enable Jewish residents of the north to return home safely.

“Every country of goodwill, every moderate and forward-thinking Arab nation in our region, and certainly Israel, should be willing to see Lebanon succeed and shake off the deadly influence of Iran, the Shia militias, and Hezbollah,” Mencer said, adding that before the meeting, Israel agreed to release five Lebanese prisoners, including one Lebanese soldier, as a goodwill gesture to Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun.

This raises a pressing question: Why is Israel making goodwill gestures toward a country that fired over 10,000 rockets and drones during more than a year of warfare, terrorizing Israel’s northern regions and forcing over 60,000 Jews to flee their homes? In addition, the Lebanese Armed Forces under Aoun’s control have demonstrated a “lack of will” — in the words of Lebanese military analyst Khali Helou at a Washington Institute policy forum — to fully deploy troops in southern Lebanon in place of Hezbollah.