![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 Friday, Booking.com, the large global online lodging accommodation service website, placed a travel warning on all of its listings—both Jewish- and Arab-owned—for properties in Judea and Samaria, including in towns under full Palestinian Authority control.
The warning, which appears in a box towards the top of the page for searches on properties in the area, urges potential clients to:
“Review any travel advisories provided by your government to make an informed decision about your stay in this area, which may be considered conflict-affected.“
A similar warning will now appear on properties in another 40 or so “conflict zones” around the world.
In September, JNS reported that Booking.com was considering labeling Jewish-owned properties only in Judea and Samaria with a security disclaimer.
Jerusalem over the weekend issued a statement celebrating the change as a “political achievement for Israel” following “discreet and efficient discussions” with the Amsterdam-based company in order to persuade it not to single out Jewish businesses.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid praised the move and said, “We thank Booking for changing the decision. The State of Israel accomplished an important achievement today in the fight against delegitimization.”
That being said, Booking.com still lists all Jewish properties in Judea and Samaria as being part of the “West Bank, Palestinian Territory.”
The government may have applauded the fact that the warning isn’t being applied exclusively to Jewish-owned businesses, but some of Israel’s B&B owners are in no mood for celebration.
On Thursday, a day before Booking.com released its statement, JNS participated in a tour for journalists organized by the MediaCentral media liaison service in the area of the Megilot Dead Sea Regional Council (over the so-called green line), where bed and breakfast and other lodging accommodation and resort business owners said that the news of an upcoming travel warning by Booking.com, regardless of its wording, was already harming their businesses.
Lital and Zohar Aizenberg operate a small, Mexican-themed bed and breakfast in the Jewish community of Vered Yericho called Mi Casa Tu Casa that they opened a few years ago, overlooking the P.A.-controlled city of Jericho,
“We are already feeling the effects [of the labeling],” Lital explained to JNS as she showed off one of her vacant rental units.
“Tourism is a vulnerable business. When people from abroad rely solely on the news, it gives them a reason to be scared. Any type of warning for tourists, that something unexpected can happen to them, will have an impact on our bottom line,” she explained.
Zohar added, “First Airbnb abandoned us,” referring to that company’s since-reversed decision in 2019 to delist Jewish properties in Judea and Samaria, “which dropped our income by 50 percent as we tried to survive financially, and now this.”
Zohar said that their community has a good relationship with their local Arab neighbors. “When BDS starts, it’s thousands of Palestinians who are the ones who lose their jobs,” he continued, referring to examples such as SodaStream’s decision to close its Mishor Adumim factory and move to the Negev, thus putting many PA Arabs out of work.
A few minutes down the road at the 81-room Almog Kibbutz Holiday Village, regional manager Oren Aharoni told JNS that he is not losing sleep over any labeling by Booking.com.
While the property is listed on the site, he said that most of his business comes from Birthright and other groups, and these days mainly Israeli tourists.
That being said, he finds the labeling absurd. “This area is quiet,” he said. “There has not been one bullet fired here since 1967.”
Taking a hard-nosed attitude, Aharoni said, “I’m not worried about Booking or their safety warnings. Besides, there is no future for agents. Guests will start making reservations directly with the hotels.”
On the other hand, Dina Dagan, the proprietor of the 110-room Moroccan-themed Biankini Village Resort on the northern shore of the Dead Sea, who gets 80 percent of her business through Booking.com, was animatedly upset by the labeling.
“Suddenly, Booking decided that it’s dangerous to come here?” she asked rhetorically. “Where were they during the Second Intifada? Where were they before Israel had peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan? There are terror attacks in countries all over the world, so why are they claiming here and now that this is a dangerous place?”
Her guests consist not only of Jewish Israelis, but Israeli Arabs along with PA Arabs who arrive from Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and other areas, Dagan said.
She told JNS that she generates between 4 million and 5 million shekels ($1.1 million-$1.4 million) in revenue per year through Booking.com (before the company’s fees), which she has been working with for more than a decade, but that she is already seeing a decline since the news of the labeling threat broke last month.
“Tourists rely on Booking and they don’t know the reality, so why are they scaring people?” she asked. “We have peace here.”
Dagan said that her resort will now explore alternatives to the Booking website.
“Booking is making our tourist site a political issue,” she said. “It’s not their place to divide our land. Who gave them the authority to define our borders here in Israel? Making a unilateral political decision is just wrong,” she said.
Avi Bell, an Israeli professor of Law at Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Law in Ramat Gan and the University of San Diego School of Law, Bell, addressed the visiting journalists, citing a double standard applied by the world community when it comes to Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria vs. true belligerent occupations such as Turkey’s in northern Cyprus or Morocco’s in Western Sahara.
Bell said this is not the first time that Booking.com has taken a political position regarding Israel. in 2018, for a brief period, the website listed Jerusalem as an “Israeli settlement.”
As for the current warning, Bell said, “I’m guessing there is an activist or set of activists within the company advocating a boycott policy. But someone had the good sense to water it down before it got them [Booking.com] into legal trouble by singling out Jewish properties.”
A spokesperson for the company told JNS, “Our mission at Booking.com is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. We are planning to roll out banner notifications in more than 30 regions over the next few months to ensure that customers have the information they need to make informed decisions about destinations they are considering, which may be categorized as disputed or conflict-affected areas and which may pose greater risks to travelers.
“The aim is simply to provide information to help inform customers so that they can make their own decisions, or at least check the official travel guidelines of their government as part of their decision-making process. Similar messaging is already visible for searches on our platform for Northern Cyprus, and in this current phase of the rollout includes Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and the West Bank,” the spokesperson said.