![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")
As Israel moves closer to applying sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and parts of Judea and Samaria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi on Sunday evening to discuss the Trump administration’s outline for peace. The two former IDF chiefs of staff presented a united position on the matter, saying the sovereignty initiative must be implemented in such a way as to garner broad consensus within Israel, as well as international support, and must not harm diplomatic relations with Jordan and Egypt.
Prior to his discussion with Gantz and Ashkenazi, Netanyahu met with representatives of 12 Judea and Samaria localities. Also in attendance was Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin. The settler leaders arrived with a message of support for the Trump plan and the sovereignty initiative Netanyahu is spearheading. Among the settlement leaders in attendance were the mayors of Ariel and Modi’in Illit, and the heads of the regional councils of Efrat, Oranit, Alfei Menashe, Karnei Shomron, Emmanuel and others.
The mayors and regional council heads, who represent around a quarter of a million Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria, lent Netanyahu their support and voiced their confidence that he would secure a good plan for Israel and the settlement enterprise. They noted that the Trump plan includes components that just a few short years ago were considered fanciful, chief among them sovereignty.
The settlement leaders also denounced Yesha Council leader David Elhayani’s recent comments calling the Trump plan a “scam,” saying the U.S. president’s vision for peace was unprecedentedly favorable to Israel.
Pinhas Wallerstein, among the founding fathers of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria and a former director of the Yesha Council, who was also at the meeting, said he was shaking with excitement over the prospect of Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.
Elkana Mayor Assaf Mintzer said prior to the meeting: “We believe that the offer available to us at the moment won’t be the final say on the future borders of the State of Israel and that those advising the prime minister on the matter will be able to receive a more favorable offer. We can’t allow ourselves to miss the opportunity to apply sovereignty in the coming months. We’ve been dreaming of sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, Ma’ale Adumim and Gush Etzion, and when we’re about to receive 30 percent [of Judea and Samaria] with the rest up for negotiation, we need to grab it with both hands.”
Mintzer told Israel Hayom that he and his colleagues had expressed their contempt over Elhayani’s comments against Trump and Netanyahu.
“These statements do not represent the settlers or the Yesha Council. The prime minister was assured he has significant support within the settlement enterprise. We thanked him and the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, Ronen Peretz, for their efforts. We understand that the timetable is very short but that it’s possible to realize the great achievement of applying sovereignty,” he said.
Netanyahu, for his part, rejected the criticism of the plan from the right. He noted that previous prime ministers had proposed withdrawing from 97 percent of Judea and Samaria, offers that were also rejected by the Palestinians, while the Trump plan calls for Israeli sovereignty in 30 percent of Judea and Samaria—an unimaginable offer just a few years ago. Earlier proposals, the prime minister continued, also stipulated the eviction of 100,000 Jewish residents, while not a single person would be uprooted from their home under the current plan.
Knesset Speaker Levin, who is a member of the joint Israeli-American mapping committee working to determine the sovereignty lines, added that the sovereignty component of the Trump plan is far greater in scope than any sovereignty legislation he pursued as a Knesset member.
“Only a year ago we dreamed about sovereignty in Ma’ale Adumim, and here we can have sovereignty over all the settlements,” he said.
Netanyahu noted that contrary to the claims of the oppositionists in the Yesha Council, the main roads in Judea and Samaria will not be transferred at any stage to the Palestinians. He emphasized that there would be no construction freeze, because constriction will be allowed within the communities.
Finally, Netanyahu said no Palestinians would receive Israeli citizenship within the framework of the plan.
“This is a historic opportunity that comes around once every 73 years,” he said.
A senior official who participated in the meeting said the internal strife in the settler movement was irresponsible and a source of consternation within the American administration. He noted that the window of opportunity for the historic initiative would only be open for a very short while and that the move to apply sovereignty could be set in motion in a matter of weeks. However, if the attacks from the right persist, he said, the window will be shut and the opportunity squandered.
Efrat Mayor Oded Raviv said upon the conclusion of the meeting with Netanyahu: “The prime minister is a friend of the settlement enterprise. In a series of endeavors, he has attained from President Trump, the friendliest U.S. president ever to Israel and the settlements, things we couldn’t have dreamed of getting.”
Revivi added, “We have enough enemies around us, there’s no need to create divisions among us. On this matter, we must all stand with the prime minister.”
MK Bezalel Smotrich (National Union) responded to the meeting, posted on Twitter: “Mr. Prime Minister. We will not allow ourselves to be duped again. A real sovereignty map? We will be there together with you with all our might. A map with an Arab state in the very heart of the beloved land? You will find in us a fortified wall.”
This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.