![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")
On June 19, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, released a 199-word statement on “the Passing of their beloved German shepherd Champ.”
The statement Biden issued on Nov. 30—hours after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had released a glowing 401-word missive on the passing of Henry Kissinger—was a terse, 97-word reflection on the former U.S. secretary of state and national security advisor.
Kissinger, who died at 100 on Nov. 29, didn’t receive half the ink of the late first dog.
“I’ll never forget the first time I met Dr. Kissinger. I was a young senator, and he was secretary of state—giving a briefing on the state of the world,” Biden stated. “Throughout our careers, we often disagreed. And often strongly. But from that first briefing, his fierce intellect and profound strategic focus was evident.”
Biden’s reflections on Kissinger’s death are the shortest—often by a long shot—of the 49 official statements of condolences that JNS found on the White House website.
The closest other examples are the U.S. president’s remarks on the passing of United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (108 words); pope emeritus Benedict XVI (122); and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II (134) last year; in addition to former Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi (119) and former Philippines president Benigno Aquino (115) in 2021.
Each of the other 43 statements of Biden’s condolences ran at least 50% longer than his statement on Kissinger.
In 2023, Biden issued official condolences to United Steelworkers president Thomas Conway (344 words); performer Harry Belafonte (343); New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (324); Pennsylvania first lady Ellen Casey (319); Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola’s husband, Eugene Peltola (284); California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (270); musician Tony Bennett (234); Connecticut Gov. Lowell Weicker (232); Colorado Rep. Pat Schroeder (225); first lady Rosalynn Carter (218); musician Jimmy Buffett (217); Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski (207); disability-rights activist Judith Heumann (180); singer Tina Turner (180); Christine King Farris, sister of Martin Luther King Jr. (171); and economist William Springs (159).
Last year, Biden devoted more than five times as much text to his statement about secretary of state Madeleine Albright (516 words). He also issued statements memorializing Queen Elizabeth II (498); Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris (477); defense secretary Ash Carter (368); basketball star Bill Russell (265); Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (258); Dick Blum, husband of Feinstein (230); actor Sidney Poitier (196); actor Nichelle Nichols (177); Virginia Rep. Donald McEachin (171); and Alaska Rep. Don Young (152).
In 2021, Biden issued statements on Michigan Sen. Carl Levin (483 words); Kansas Sen. Bob Dole (462); Gen. Colin Powell (448); Nevada Senate majority leader Harry Reid (403); AFL-CIO president Rich Trumka (394); vice president Walter Mondale (376); secretary of state George Shultz (366); Gen. Raymond Odierno (335); Virginia Sen. John Warner (299); baseball star Hank Aaron (295); Georgia Sen. Max Cleland (236); Archbishop Desmond Tutu (231); Prince Philip of the United Kingdom (184); Florida judge and Rep. Alcee Hastings (183); astronaut Michael Collins (170); and Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson (165).
Among former U.S. secretaries of state, Madeleine Albright received 430% more ink and George Shultz about 280% more text than Kissinger did.
“President Biden’s statement on Henry Kissinger comes 24 hours after the news of his death was announced publicly and is relatively ice-cold,” wrote the journalist Yashar Ali. “Pleasantly surprised … I was worried there would be a two-page statement.”
“Biden’s statement on Kissinger is like, I met him, he shared ideas, we really disagreed on things, he shared his ideas some more, condolences to his family,” added senior Huffington Post politics reporter Jennifer Bendery.
‘History-bending decisions’
Hours before Biden’s statement was released, Blinken praised Kissinger at length. “Henry was not only a student of history and strategy. Over the course of an extraordinary 100 years, he made both,” Blinken wrote.
“His family fled to the United States from Nazi Germany in 1938, when he was 15 years old. Finding refuge in America, he later wrote, ‘I personally experienced what our nation meant to the rest of the world, especially to the persecuted and disadvantaged,’” the U.S. secretary wrote. (Like Kissinger, Blinken is Jewish.)
“He loved the nation that had taken in his family and, for the rest of his life, felt a duty and a desire to serve America, its people, its idea,” he added. Blinken noted that Kissinger made “countless history-bending decisions” and “to serve as America’s chief diplomat today is to move through a world that bears Henry’s lasting imprint—from the relationships he forged, to the tools he pioneered, to the architecture he built.”
Presidents, secretaries of state, national security advisors and other leaders, from both sides of the aisle, sought Kissinger’s counsel, and the elder statesman brought “his strategic acumen and intellect to bear on the emerging challenges of each passing decade,” Blinken wrote.
“Including me—whether I was traveling to China more than 50 years after his transformative trip, or seeking his counsel as we shaped our approach to artificial intelligence, on which he was thinking, writing and advising prolifically, up to the final weeks of his life,” he added.
“Few people were better students of history—and even fewer people did more to shape history—than Henry Kissinger,” Blinken wrote.