![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")
The 2022 World Games in Birmingham have been promoted with the slogan of “witness history” in a city that has come together after being a flashpoint of the seemingly intractable civil rights struggle in the early 1960s, so a July 14 ceremony dedicating a “peace tree” with the Abraham Accords countries in the Middle East was seen as a fitting tribute.
Representatives of Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco were on hand for the early-morning ceremony at Marconi Park in downtown Birmingham, along with officials of the city and the World Games.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said the spirit of the World Games over the previous week “has been one of unity and peace,” and “today we solidify that message. Birmingham is honored to be home to this tree, planted by four countries that happily can call themselves friends.”
The idea for the ceremony came several months ago as representatives from the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta met with World Games officials to plan their involvement in the festivities.
Kathy Boswell, vice president of community engagement for the World Games, said as Aaron Braunstein with the consulate was describing the Abraham Accords, it resonated with the local organizers because of Birmingham’s history as a civil-rights battleground. There were themes of “coexistence, dignity, cooperation, diversity and respect—but most of all, it was a vision of peace.”
In both cases, she said, it was “people willing to find a solution, to make the greater good move forward.”
‘Peace is so fragile’
Nick Sellars, CEO of the Birmingham Organizing Committee, said “our city, as you well know, has had our fair share of moments of challenge and struggles, much like our friends and partners here today … but when we see these athletes on the field competing and committed to something bigger than their own self-interest, there is so much we can learn from that because the past does not have to equal the future.”
He added that “peace is so fragile, it has to be committed to every day.”
Azza Sulaiman, acting general secretary of the United Arab Emirates National Olympic Committee, thanked Birmingham for hosting the event and the World Games, saying, “we believe that when we stand together, we move together, there are rewards for everyone, for peace.”
Rose Sager, trade representative from Bahrain, spoke of how King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued a declaration in 2017 promoting religious freedom and tolerance. “Bahrain has always had religious coexistence,” she said, noting that she is part of the island nation’s small Jewish community.
The Abraham Accords came about because of leadership that was thinking ahead, she said, and while it should not have come as a surprise, it was still a “miraculous move.”
The accords will encourage “not only peace but prosperity, trade, education, cultural exchanges, business exchanges, but hopefully, trade exchanges from Birmingham,” said Sager. “It won’t be a problem; we have the same weather you do.”
‘It is so sweet’
Fatima Zahra Aboulfaraj, a political counselor for the Moroccan embassy in Washington, called it “a very joyful day, allowing us to renew our commitment for peace, the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel is indeed a historic event.”
She added that Morocco “will always contribute to regional peace and stability.”
Alex Gandler, Israel’s deputy consul general in Atlanta, noted that U.S. President Joe Biden had just arrived in Israel to promote “further peace across the Middle East between nations that several years ago, we could not have imagined would be speaking to each other, but now, we are embracing each other.”
In Birmingham, “the city of peace,” said Gandler, “we stand together—Moroccan, Bahraini, Emirati and Israeli—to tell you all that peace is possible. It is achievable, and it is so sweet.”
He pointed out that the logo for the event and for the tree consists of the four nations’ flags connected in the image of a thumbprint, “a symbol that truly humanizes the term ‘people to people diplomacy.’ ”
He concluded: “May the message of unity and harmony resonate far and wide.”
The actual tree-planting was not part of the event, as it is difficult to successfully plant a tree during the heat of an Alabama summer. Instead, the fruit tree will be planted in the fall. The Jones Valley Teaching Farm next to the park will be responsible for maintaining it and will use it as part of its educational curriculum. The farm hosted the mid-week athletes’ party the night before the tree ceremony.
Noting that Birmingham will host the International Peace Conference in May 2023, Woodfin said “this tree will stand tall as a bond between all countries” and read a proclamation declaring July 14 as “Abraham Accords Day” in Birmingham.
This is not the first time that Israeli diplomacy has been recognized in Birmingham. In 2005, the city of Birmingham officially established sister city ties with Rosh Ha’Ayin in Israel and al-Karak in Jordan. The three-way signing ceremony was held at Kelly Ingram Park, the site of civil-rights demonstrations in 1963, now known as “A Place of Revolution and Reconciliation.”
Kelly Ingram Park also has an Anne Frank Tree that was dedicated in 2010, though it is not one of the official saplings from Amsterdam.