![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")
“Does the whole world hate the Jews?”
The question was posed by a self-identified Democrat from Waterbury, Conn., who called into C-Span Saturday morning to confess that he believed white nationalists owned antisemitism in America. With reports of the dreadful Hamas raid dominating the news, the caller said he now recognizes that many liberals have been bashing Israel.
The caller’s turnaround signals new trends in Middle East thinking that will help the standing of Israel and Diaspora Jews, while rendering pro-Arab activists irrelevant. If the Connecticut man is indicative of the public’s thinking, then advocates for the Palestinians will squander their undeserved influence. Those who previously sympathized with the Palestinians will disregard pro-Arab arguments and allow Israel more leeway in carrying out its strategies.
In the process, the savagery of Hamas in southern Israel punctures arguments that the conflict is about Israel oppressing the Palestinians. People will no longer trust the Palestinian point of view and will be willing to take Israeli attitudes more seriously. This transformation will be rooted in the Arabs’ long history of distorting the course of the conflict that was blasted apart on Oct. 7 when hundreds of low-lifes from Hamas slaughtered more than 1300 Jews and others.
Case in point: The New York Times headlined a story thus: “Palestinian Americans Say Historical Context Is Being Overlooked.”
They should feel relieved that the “historical context is being overlooked.” The most compelling “context” lies in Israel’s proposal for a Palestinian state 23 years ago after President Clinton met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David.
The Palestinians would govern all of Gaza, roughly 95 percent of the West Bank and portions of eastern Jerusalem. They would likely have an independent state today, except…
Arafat refused to work with Clinton and Barak. When the summit wrapped up in late July 2000, he returned to the Middle East and either started or facilitated an uprising that left more than 1000 Israelis and 3000 Palestinians dead.
Soon after the war commenced, Barak was ousted from office by the far more hawkish Ariel Sharon, and Israelis steadily elected a series of rightwing members to Parliament up to now. The current coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met with massive opposition to its plan to revamp the judicial operation. The coalition also seeks to expand communities in the West Bank and annex this area.
Their plans are indefensible, but Sharon and Netanyahu in particular owe their jobs to Arafat and defiant Palestinians who respond to Israeli outreach with terrorism. Is this their idea of lack of context?
Nearly each time they complain about Israel, defenders of the Palestinians make sweeping accusations against Israel with no basis in the facts. They almost never provide specific examples.
Their single most credible complaint should certainly be dealt with. Authorities must stop Israelis who attack Arab villagers, a relatively new action preceded by decades of Arab terrorist attacks in the West Bank. So far, the perpetrators represent a low percentage of settlers.
Palestinians routinely gripe about checkpoints that hold up traffic for long periods. It is common knowledge that Israel set up the checkpoints for security purposes. The harsher critics of Israel know that as well as everyone else.
Their demands are so silly that they cannot stand the idea of any Jews praying on the Temple Mount, the site of the second temple in Jerusalem. What harm can that do?
This kind of context has been played down for more than two decades. Apologists for the Palestinians in America and Canada have created all kinds of disruptions, committed mostly low-level crimes amid their protests and persisted in affirming that, in snarling Jack Nicholson-style, that they “can’t handle the truth.” Most Americans and Canadians tolerated their conduct.
Mostly right-wing Jews who themselves had credibility problems called them out. I know of few instances in which authorities prosecuted pro-Arab apologists for crimes. As an exception to the rule, a prosecutor in Orange County, California, won convictions against students who disrupted a speech by Michael Oren, then Israel’s ambassador to the United States, at the University of California campus in Irvine.
Those days may be over. Signs are cropping up that Americans will no longer let them get away with it. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has called Israel an “apartheid state,” denounced a rally in New York City where attendees were accused of celebrating Hamas’ massacre. U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit walked back a statement defending Hamas.
A law firm rescinded a job offer to a student at New York University after she posted anti-Israel comments. Philadelphia’s City Council, mostly if not all non-Jewish, is expected to vote on a resolution condemning the raid with all members co-sponsoring the bill. Two pro-Israel rallies in Philadelphia were crammed with supporters. Jewish donors to the University of Pennsylvania, along with some non-Jews, are threatening to cut off funding because of the university’s weak response to a conference on campus that was linked to antisemitism.
Most striking is the sense of betrayal that young Jews in New York City expressed because of “the response of their lefty friends,” Rabbi Misha Shulman told Michelle Goldberg, a Times columnist. She wrote that their progressive allies “were either justifying Hamas’s atrocities or celebrating them outright.”
That disclosure demands special attention. Those who pity the poor Palestinians are fond of touting the sympathy of liberal Jews for the Palestinian cause. Whatever that is, to repeat my own perception in past writings. Losing the aid of liberal Jews would surely jolt pro-Arab activists.
Perhaps Jack Nicholson, who portrayed the bullying, half-mad Marine Col. Nathan R. Jessup in “A Few Good Men,” will be pleased that his fellow citizens can now “handle the truth.”
Republished from San Diego Jewish News