![Israel must continue to be able to deter Hezbollah, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar stressed on Wednesday, speaking amid efforts to reach a ceasefire with Iran's Lebanese terrorist proxy. "We need to keep the freedom to act if there will be violations. And we will have to act in time, before the problem will grow," the minister told a gathering of nearly 100 foreign ambassadors in Jerusalem, the Times of Israel reported. A deal to end more than a year of fighting on the northern border must be durable, Sa'ar said, saying Jerusalem “would like to reach an agreement that will stand the test of time." He added that a ceasefire would be an "opportunity" for Lebanon to regain its sovereignty after the Israeli military severely degraded the Iranian-backed group in recent months. He called for the Lebanese Armed Forces to be strengthened and urged the international community to invest more in the economically devastated country, which is drowning in debt following years of mismanagement and corruption. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also emphasized on Wednesday the necessity for Jerusalem to be able to act against any Hezbollah threats that may arise after a ceasefire deal is implemented. “The condition for any political settlement in Lebanon is the preservation of the intelligence capability and the preservation of the [IDF’s] right to act and protect the citizens of Israel from Hezbollah,” Katz said. Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein remained in Beirut for a second day on Wednesday to discuss "technical details" of an American ceasefire proposal with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement. President Joe Biden's point man in the Land of the Cedars announced he would travel to Israel on Wednesday night, speaking after he made "additional progress" in a second meeting with Berri. Hochstein was scheduled to meet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer shortly after his arrival, followed by a tête-à-tête with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the following day. “The meeting today built on the meeting yesterday, and made additional progress,” Hochstein said. “So I will travel from here in a couple hours to Israel to try to bring this to a close if we can.” The Biden envoy added that he will work with the incoming Trump administration on ceasefire efforts, saying that he has kept the president-elect's transition team informed of progress. Hochstein described as "very productive" his meetings with Lebanese officials on Tuesday. “We have a real opportunity to end the conflict, and now is the moment to decide. We are committed to doing everything we can to work with Lebanon and Israel to end this conflict,” Hochstein said at a press conference on Tuesday. Hochstein also met on Tuesday with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and he was scheduled to meet with Lebanese Armed Forces commander Gen. Joseph Aoun. Mikati emphasized that Lebanon’s primary objectives are achieving a ceasefire and safeguarding its sovereignty. He highlighted the need to implement international resolutions and bolster the Lebanese Armed Forces in the southern part of the country. Lebanon delivered its written response to the latest U.S. proposal on Monday. According to Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Berri, the response included “comments” that were “presented in a positive atmosphere.” He did not provide details on the nature of the comments, saying only that they “affirm the precise adherence to [U.N. Security Council] Resolution 1701 with all its provisions,” according to Reuters. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a speech on Wednesday that the terrorist group had "read the ceasefire proposal. "We have our comments, and Nabih Berri has comments, and ours and the Lebanese government's comments are, Inshallah ['God willing'], identical," Qassem said. "We have decided not to discuss these ceasefire proposals or our comments in the media. All I will say is that Israeli is trying to obtain through negotiations what it couldn't through war." The terrorist leader vowed to “continue our efforts on the ground, whether the negotiations succeed or not. “We are confronting a savage enemy, and we will remain on the ground, no matter the cost, as we will also increase the cost for the enemy. We are facing Israeli human monsters supported by American human monsters,” threatened Qassem. Disarm and retreat Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, stipulated that Hezbollah must disarm and retreat north of the Litani River, but was never enforced. The Litani lies some 20 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border. Its enforcement, along with Israeli freedom of operation in Lebanon should Hezbollah violate the terms of a ceasefire agreement, are the key sticking points in the current negotiations. Netanyahu emphasized during a speech in the Knesset plenum on Monday that Israel will not allow Hezbollah to “return to the state it was in on Oct. 6, 2023. “We will be required, in order to ensure our security in the north, to systematically carry out operations—not only against Hezbollah’s attacks, which could come. Even if there is a ceasefire, nobody can guarantee it will hold. So it’s not only our reaction, a preventive reaction, a reaction in the wake of attack but also the capacity to prevent Hezbollah from strengthening,” he said. Hezbollah has launched some 16,000 rockets, missiles and drones from Lebanon at Israel since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the Gaza-based terrorist group’s massacre in southern Israel. More than 60,000 residents of northern Israel remain internally displaced due to the ongoing rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon. Seventy-six people in northern Israel have been killed by Hezbollah cross-border rocket, missile and drone attacks since the start of the war, including 31 soldiers and six foreign citizens, according to the latest data provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, updated on Sunday. In addition, 729 people have been wounded, including 497 civilians and 232 soldiers. Of these, 29 civilians and 37 soldiers were severely injured; 63 civilians and 38 soldiers were moderately injured and 405 civilians and 157 soldiers were lightly injured. Hezbollah’s leadership has been left in tatters following a series of targeted killings by Israel, including that of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on Sept. 27. This was preceded by Israeli sabotage of Hezbollah communication devices that killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400 members of the terrorist group. Israel has been waging a devastating aerial campaign against Hezbollah throughout Lebanon, including its stronghold of Dahieh south of Beirut. According to Israeli estimates, the terrorist group has lost most of its arsenal to the ongoing strikes. Then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in late October that Hezbollah had lost an estimated 80%-plus of its long-range rockets since the start of the war. Israel also continues to battle Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The terrorist group still holds 101 hostages in the Strip, 97 of whom were kidnapped on Oct. 7. Many of the captives are believed to be dead. Brazil summit Meanwhile, G20 leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro for a summit put out a joint statement on Monday calling for “comprehensive” ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. The leaders of the world’s biggest economies called for U.S. proposals to end fighting in Gaza and free the hostages, and one for Lebanon “that enables citizens to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line.” The 13-point U.S. proposal presented to Lebanese officials on Nov. 14 includes a 60-day truce, during which Lebanon would redeploy its troops along the border. The proposal also calls for Moscow to prevent Hezbollah from resupplying itself via Syrian land routes. Hezbollah would retreat north of the Litani River, with the border area then being under control of the Lebanese Armed Forces, overseen by the United States and Britain. Israeli officials are emphasizing, however, that the Israel Defense Forces must retain freedom of operation in Lebanon to thwart attempts by Hezbollah to violate the agreement and rearm and reestablish itself. A senior Israeli diplomatic official told Israel Hayom on Saturday that the IDF will retain operational freedom to respond to any security threats from across the northern border, regardless of any diplomatic arrangements. However, a source close to Hezbollah told The Washington Post that the group’s “condition for progress remains clear: Israel must be prohibited from conducting operations within Lebanese territory.” Berri emphasized at the time that any ceasefire agreement must not include the ability for Israel to attack by land, sea or air, Channel 12 reported. “Otherwise, what’s the purpose of an agreement?” he remarked. Another sticking point is Lebanon’s objection to the United Kingdom and Germany monitoring the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701. Beirut reportedly favors the United States and France. If the ceasefire efforts fail, there are plans in the works to expand ground operations in Lebanon, an Israeli military official told the Post. Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer discussed the proposal with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during a visit to his Florida estate earlier this month, as well as with senior Biden administration officials in Washington. Dermer also traveled to Russia to discuss the ceasefire proposal. Tehran is telling its Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah that it supports ending the war against Israel, The New York Times reported over the weekend. Ali Larijani, senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, met with senior Lebanese officials in Beirut on Nov. 15 to discuss the matter. Two Iranians affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps told the Times that Larijani conveyed messages to Hezbollah from Khamenei that he supported the end of the war and that the regime would assist with rebuilding the terrorist group’s forces and recovering from the war.](https://jewishwebsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Gideon-Saar-1320x880-2-218x150.jpg "Sa’ar: Israel must be free to act against Hezbollah truce violations")
Aaron Keyak just began his new position as Jewish outreach director for the presidential campaign of the presumptive Democratic 2020 nominee, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.
Following communication stints on Capitol Hill and serving as interim director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Keyak co-founded Bluelight Strategies, a consulting group in Washington, D.C., that works with Jewish and progressive causes. (He is on a leave of absence from Bluelight to work in his current role on the Biden campaign.) He started this job on July 10.
Keyak, 35, and his wife, Avigail, have one daughter, Shira.
JNS talked with Keyak by phone on July 17. The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
A: One thing about Joe Biden is that he has a decades-long history in public service throughout the Obama administration, but also as a leader in foreign policy in the Senate. He’s made very clear that he’s a strong supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship. He’s proud of the role he played in negotiating the 10-year, $38 billion Memorandum of Understanding, which was the highest aid package ever agreed to by the United States, as well as their support for the life-saving [missile] defense system Iron Dome. Joe Biden is strongly and proudly against BDS, and has been unequivocal in his support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
What should concern those of us who strongly support the U.S.-Israel relationship is how a diminished America on the international stage doesn’t help any of our allies and, importantly, doesn’t help Israel. What Joe Biden is going to do is lean on his decades of relationships internationally and his record as a foreign-policy leader to restore America’s standing abroad—and that will help all of our allies, including Israel.
Biden has had a warm relationship with every prime minister since Golda Meir, and he will bring that fondness for the world’s only Jewish state if he’s elected.
Q: What adverse actions, if any, do you think Trump has done to the U.S.-Israel relationship?
A: He’s used Israel and anti-Semitism as a partisan weapon, which doesn’t benefit Israel and doesn’t benefit Jewish Americans. He’s undermined the prospects for a two-state solution. The biggest damage that Trump has done to the U.S.-Israel relationship, as true for all our alliances, is that he has become a joke on the international stage. America was once seen as the leader of the Free World, and now we see Trump using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters so he could have a photo opportunity. This is a different image of what America is, and Biden will undo a lot of the damage Trump has done.
Q: The Biden campaign has said that as president, U.S. funding to the Palestinians, including to UNRWA, would resume. Why give funding to an entity that critics say has continually incited hatred of Israel and anti-Semitism, as well as perpetuates the conflict?
A: Biden has spoken out against incitement and is strongly against that sort of rhetoric. There’s also a humanitarian crisis, which is real. While ensuring that Israel and its neighbors live in as much peace and security as they can, it is important to provide humanitarian aid when there is suffering.
Q: The Hamas terror organization is responsible for the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. How is it fixable? And will Biden seek to address this?
A: It’s a challenge. You have to target humanitarian aid in a way that helps people’s lives and doesn’t help Hamas at all. We have to at least attempt it.
Q: How can Jewish and pro-Israel voters trust Biden on Iran after all that occurred under the eight years of the Obama administration, which culminated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the 2015 nuclear deal?
A: If you look at Congress, even from foreign-policy experts, there are people who opposed the JCPOA in the first place, especially Democrats like Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.); they were against Trump’s reckless decision to tear up the Iran nuclear deal. Both Israelis and Americans are less safe as a direct result of Trump’s carelessness. He continues to dangerously ignore our international allies and pursue his maximalist approach without any real plan to verifiably prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, which the JCPOA had done—all while bringing us to the brink of war.
The Obama-Biden administration believed that the best way to prevent a nuclear bomb for Iran was through a diplomatic approach. If Biden becomes president, he’s going to re-engage and find a diplomatic solution that is verifiable and strong. The truth is when it comes to Jewish Americans, there was polling at the time that the majority of Jewish Americans didn’t want Congress to reject the Iran deal. Biden’s approach to a diplomatic solution to preventing a nuclear Iran is right in line with the mainstream of Jewish Americans.
Q: As an observant Jew, what it is it like being in a demanding campaign role while observing Shabbat?
A: It’s a grueling job. Part of that 25 hours of real rest [on Shabbat] is what enables and empowers me to work long hours, insanely nonstop, for the six days. When people ask me what it’s like to have a 24/7 job, I say that for me, it’s 24/6. Being an observant Jew and working on campaigns is part of struggling with the balance between modernity and halachah.
There are some things that are non-negotiable. I was very upfront with my supervisors, and they were very understanding. It’s not that Shabbat takes away from my ability to serve the campaign. That rest—and that holy time with my family and for me—really propels me for the rest of the week.
Q: How does Biden plan to address growing anti-Semitism in America—not only on the far-right, but also on the left?
A: During the national fireside chat with Jewish Americans, Biden spoke out against anti-Semitism on the right and on the left. Jew-hatred isn’t any different if it’s coming out of someone with a MAGA hat on or if it is coming out of the mouth of somebody on the left. It’s not just about his arguments or his campaigning in the Jewish community. It’s when he’s talking with all Americans. He said one of the reasons he decided to run for president was in the aftermath of Charlottesville, Va.
In fact, when I saw those neo-Nazis and white supremacists and racists marching with tiki torches saying “Jews will not replace us,” that was a scary moment for me as a Jewish American. What really made me unsafe for the first time in my own country in my lifetime was how the president of the United States responded when he said there were “very fine people on both sides.” That’s scary for us as Jews and also scary for all Americans, and it’s central to Biden’s argument of why he should be elected the next president of the United States.
Q: Why, after so many Palestinian refusals to even negotiate, including former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s initiative in Obama’s second term, would a two-state negotiation work? Shouldn’t it be up to the parties to negotiate directly without America imposing its will?
A: Joe Biden’s position is that he supports a two-state solution negotiated between the two parties directly. The two parties agreeing to the solution is key to envisioning a path towards peace. As far as the two-state solution goes, the only reasonable path forward that both Israelis and Palestinians can agree on is two states with mutual security cooperation with their own states.
Q: Do you expect Biden to win handily, as Democrats expected with Hillary Clinton in 2016?
A: When I was working to defeat Donald Trump, I remember thinking up until election night that Hillary Clinton was going to be the next president of the United States. After that, things quickly went downhill. I remember forcing myself to stay up until 3 a.m. to watch Trump’s acceptance speech, and it was clear that he even didn’t think he was going to win. This year we can’t take anything for granted. We have to keep fighting like we’re a few points down in the polls.
Q: In three sentences: Why should Jewish and pro-Israel voters cast their vote for Biden?
A: As is central to the reason why he decided to run for president in the first place. Joe Biden will speak out against anti-Semitism and hate unequivocally and without hesitation, so that Jewish Americans again feel completely safe within our own country.