![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")
Jerusalem has started construction on parts of an NIS 3 billion (approximately $870 million) major highway that will eventually serve as a ring road around Israel’s largest city, with the goal of significantly alleviating traffic throughout the capital. At the same time, planners hope that the project will provide easier access for those entering or passing through the city from all sides.
Construction has already commenced on the southern and central sections of the Eastern spur of the highway, which consists of a three-pronged, 10-kilometer (6.2 miles) stretch of pavement known as “The American Road.” When fully completed, the road, which will include bridges and tunnels, will stretch from the Arab neighborhood of Tzur Baher in the southeast to the Naomi Shemer Tunnel in the northeast on Mouth Scopus.
The road got its name as a result of an American company that planned and began construction in collaboration with the Jordanian government in the 1960s. However, the plan was never completed after Israel retained full control of Jerusalem following the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli authorities did build parts of the southern section, which today only consists of a small and barely functional narrow road. The cost of this Eastern spur is estimated at around NIS 860 million ($250 million).
The American Road project, with two-thirds scheduled to be completed in 2021 and the final part to begin that same year, is under the auspices of the Moriah Jerusalem Development Corporation, the main construction arm of the Jerusalem Municipality and the Ministry of Transportation, and is one of the leading municipal companies in Israel.
He said that it “will serve residents from all communities, both Jews and Arabs and will lessen traffic significantly.” Shoshani stressed that the American Road will, in fact, have its greatest impact on the Arab residents who live in the Eastern side of the city.
‘One big united city’
However, not everyone is convinced of the merit of the project or the motivations behind it.
Sari Kronish an architect with “Bimkom‒Planners for Planning Rights,” an Israeli human-rights organization of professional planners and architects, told JNS in an email statement that “the central part of the [American] road was originally built during Jordanian control to connect villages in the outskirts of Jerusalem to each other, but it is now being seized for use by thru traffic, specifically settler traffic.”
In other words, Bimkom, along with several other organizations, has expressed its opinion that the project is going forward specifically to provide easier access to the city for residents of Judea and Samaria, but isn’t being built in a proper way to fully serve Arab populations.
Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Arieh King adamantly disagrees. He told JNS that “the road will positively impact the Arabs of Jerusalem more than any other population.”
He explained that “today, if you are an Arab in Tzur Baher, for example, and want to get to other Arab neighborhoods further north like Jabel Mukaber or Silwan, you have to go west, north and then back east again using Derech Hebron (“Hebron Road”)—a narrow thoroughfare with many traffic lights. This new highway is being planned with access from all of these neighborhoods, which will significantly reduce travel time. The bottom line is that for the Arabs, having access to their neighborhoods will be an incredible addition to their standard of life.”
King also detailed how the American Road will connect to other major Jerusalem arteries in order to eventually form the loop around the city. He noted that the second stage of the plan is to build a tunnel connecting the southeast neighborhood of Har Homa to Gilo in the south and the Begin Highway in the west, with Begin serving as the Western spur on the loop. An expansion of the Gush Etzion/Jerusalem tunnel road is already underway leading into the city from the south, which also meets up with Begin.
He said that the Northern spur of the loop will form a direct connection between Highway 1 (the Tel-Aviv Jerusalem road), allowing for motorists to travel directly to the Dead Sea without having to cross through Jerusalem and avoid sitting in traffic.
When asked about those who oppose the construction, King said, “I have met with tens of Arabs, including leaders who are in favor of the project. I didn’t find one Arab who is against this plan. In addition to traffic alleviation, this will increase the value of apartments and real-estate [in the eastern parts of the city].”
In fact, King’s hope is that the project will encourage more Jews to live, work and tour in eastern areas of the city. He says that today, “there are no Jews there. Once you have a highway with facilities surrounding [it], such as shopping centers and industrial areas, it will be easier to convince Jews in the long run to move there.”
On the other hand, Kronish says that the city has it wrong when it comes to possible development alongside the historic segment of the road, saying “the development rights that are proposed include a problematic ratio of housing to other uses, thereby not providing a solution to the housing crisis and also not really offering the necessary stimuli for other forms of development.”
She added, “This approach is indicative of the way Israeli planning policy towards Palestinian East Jerusalem in recent years: They focus on all urban land uses except for housing, while the housing crisis continues to surge. And if they have to address housing, it is done in a way that is de facto unimplementable.”
While King stressed the importance of development opportunities alongside the road, he thinks that the potential construction components are “a byproduct of project.”
“The main goal is the road, with similar loop-highways existing in many other metropolitans around the world,” he said. “We want Jerusalem to be one big united city under Israeli sovereignty.”
He added that “those who oppose the road are de facto calling to keep Arabs stuck [both literally and figuratively] in an underdeveloped area.”