![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")
Birthright, the project established in 2000 by philanthropists Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt, has brought 750,000 participants to see Israel for themselves. The Hebrew daily Makor Rishon recently convened the project’s founders, via video-conference, to explain the impetus behind funding an airplane ticket and hotel accommodations for wealthy young people.
In a subsequent Zoom session, the publication interviewed power-couple philanthropists Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson, from their California home. (Disclosure: Makor Rishon is held by the Israel Hayom Group, owned by the Adelsons). The couple joined Birthright as donors in 2011, enabling a significant expansion of the project.
Miriam Adelson: “We heard about Birthright when we were looking to invest in projects that are significant for the Jewish people. When Charles Bronfman told us about it, we became very excited. Bronfman asked for a small amount of money, and Sheldon said, ‘Of course, we will give it.’ Sheldon later told me, ‘I don’t understand why didn’t ask for more. I would have given him more!’
“Later, we heard from [American philanthropist] Michael Steinhardt that 10,000 young people register for Birthright’s waiting list every year, and that they are waitlisted because there is not enough money to send every person who registers. We decided then to fund everyone on the waiting list. But then the list grew longer, with 20,000 people in line. So we subsidized them, too.”
Miriam: “These visits have shown to have an impact on Jewish continuity. The program reinforces the Jewish people. Whenever we are in Israel, we make a point of talking with Birthright groups. One of the girls told me, ‘I know there are no free rides. What is it that you want from me in exchange?’
“It was on their tenth and last day in Israel. I told her that by being here for 10 days, she was reinforcing her connection with her roots, family and people. I said, ‘Now that you have been here, you will forever have a warm place for Israel in your heart. If Israel is in danger, you will be one of the soldiers fighting for it. You will go to the White House to protest. You will do something for Israel. You may not know it yet, but you have already delivered me the return on my investment. Your presence here means you are committed to your family. I have received from you much more than I have given you.’
“I love all Jews, be they from the right or the left. I believe that they are all part of my larger family. At the same time, I want to protect my family. I want my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be Jewish. If the situation on the campuses remains as it is, we are in a bad way. Research by Brandeis University showed that Birthright graduates have a 76 percent chance of marrying Jews, compared with 42 percent among those who did not participate in the program, as a result of having gotten stuck on the waiting list. Had we not donated to Birthright, we would have lost many people within a single generation.
“Even my own two sons went to Israel with Birithright. My son, Adam, called me from Israel and said, ‘Mom, it has changed my life.’
“I asked him, ‘How? You have been to Israel with us dozens of times. You have been to Bedouin tents, to Masada, everywhere. So how come this trip changed your life?’
“He said it happened to him on Mount Herzl. ‘We visited the grave of a soldier who was our age, 18, when he was killed,’ he said. ‘We all cried together. Then we went to Yad Vashem. It was at that moment that my friends and I realized the significance of our visit to Israel. We are Israel’s soldiers around the globe.’ ”
Sheldon: “Our son has mobilized dozens of young people on campus. They filled two Birthright buses. He became sort of a guide.
“It’s important that, as Jews, we do everything in our power to have more people join. We give Birthright between $20-30 million a year, but it’s not just them. We’ve built a medical school at Ariel University, the Entrepreneurship School at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya and many more ventures. We do not regard this as a payment, but rather as assistance to the Jewish people.”
Miriam: “When I see American Jews who criticize Israel or BDS supporters who pretend to be pro-Israel, I feel a twinge in my heart that my brothers and sisters are ignorant of the facts, and that they are filled with anger and hatred. I ache for them, but they are Jewish as far as I’m concerned. Maybe their children will know better. If the BDS movement encourages them to refrain from going to Israel, we will give them a tour to show them the opposite view.
“In 1988, when I married Sheldon, we used to go to fundraisers for Israel held by members of the American-Jewish community. At first, I felt they were just giving money to Israel to clear their consciences. Gradually, I found out about the amount of time–not just money–that they were investing to find out how to help Israel, whether by aiding the integration of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union or by adopting a town in Israel. I think that time is more valuable than money, because it involves investing a piece of your life. American Jews love Israel, except for those who became more liberal. The heart of American Jewry is in Israel.
“The Israeli soldiers who join the Birthright buses for several days, mingling with young Jews from the United States and other countries earn a great deal from their interaction with the participants. It transforms them. They, too, come to a greater understanding of what they are fighting for, which is not only the state of Israel, but the Jewish people. It’s a life-changing realization for them.
“Research shows that Birthright influences not only the participants themselves, but also their wider circles. One participant, for example—the daughter of a Christian mother and a Jewish father, who was raised as a Catholic and even sang in the church choir—became connected with her Jewish roots. When she returned home, she converted to Judaism, started to observe Shabbat and attend synagogue. Her brother followed her example, and even her mother converted to Judaism. I hear stories like this one all the time.
“I would have liked to reach 80,000 participants every year. It is estimated that100,000 babies are born every year to Jewish families. Clearly, not all of them will be able to make the journey, for a host of reasons, but I would like to see all the others visiting Israel.”
Sheldon: “I would like to see the alumni continue the project, reinforcing their Judaism and love of Israel even further.
Zvika Klein is an award-winning journalist who covers Jewish Diaspora affairs for Makor Rishon, where an expanded version of this article first appeared.