![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")
The biggest tech conference in Europe is coming to the Middle East on Feb. 26-29, bringing together thousands of investors and startups in what is billed as a “tech utopia” bursting with “digital optimism.”
Tech enthusiasts should beware. The first-ever Web Summit Qatar will take place in the shining mega-city of Doha, where Hamas billionaires live in luxury amid millions of exploited migrant workers. Against this backdrop of haves and have-nots, Web Summit Qatar promises to provide a playground for ultra-rich tech moguls and investors who, in addition to their immense wealth, share a burning disdain for the region’s only real democracy: Israel.
A stunning number of investors and tech experts advertised as speaking at the Doha conference are on record promoting viciously antisemitic tropes. From gleefully celebrating the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre to comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and calling Israelis “retards” and “psychopath[s],” Web Summit Qatar’s VIPs have voiced opinions that would ruin the careers of their Western counterparts and doom their companies to failure.
In fact, that is precisely what happened to Web Summit’s own co-founder and CEO, Paddy Cosgrave, who posted a comparison of Israeli and Palestinian casualty figures on Oct. 7 and followed it up with a post accusing Israel of “war crimes.”
Pushback was swift and fierce. Cosgrave was forced to resign after Web Summit began hemorrhaging major sponsors, including Amazon, Google, Intel and Meta. Dozens of smaller tech companies, venture capitalists and guest speakers followed suit.
“I’ll never be part of your future initiatives and we’ll never work together again,” Adam Singolda, the Israeli-American founder of the advertising company Taboola, wrote to Cosgrave.
For a Middle East conference geared towards launching and promoting startups, moreover, Web Summit Qatar is noticeably devoid of entrepreneurs hailing from Israel—the “startup nation.”
Nevertheless, Cosgrave’s exit appeared to assuage the concerns of many tech enthusiasts, with a record-breaking crowd attending Web Summit’s flagship conference last November in Lisbon. The goodwill appears set to continue at Web Summit Qatar. Attendees don’t seem to be troubled by Qatar’s anti-homosexuality laws, its abuse of migrant workers or its open sponsorship of international terrorist groups. Nor do they appear to be bothered by the participation of the state-owned media conglomerate Al Jazeera, whose reporters were recently accused of participating in the Oct. 7 massacre.
By January, all seemed forgiven for the conference host after it was announced that star comedian Trevor Noah would headline the event. Major partners such as Meta have returned and the hosts anticipate a sold-out venue with more than 12,000 attendees, far exceeding early estimates.
However, tech leaders may want to reconsider attending an event that provides a platform to so many speakers and influencers who openly express contemptible views.
For starters, consider Lebanese chef and influencer Abir El Saghir, who celebrated on Oct. 7 by handing out Palestinian-themed candy and flags to jubilant passersby. El Saghir has also accused Israel of “genocides” and repeated the genocidal slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
El Saghir will be joined at Web Summit Qatar by Hamad Al-Hajri. Founder of the Qatari online delivery service Snoonu, Al-Hajri has smeared Israelis as the “new Nazis” and said he will “not invest in any startup that operated in #Israel.” Al-Hajri even thanked Cosgrave for the tone-deaf comments that led to his ouster, penning a brief tribute that referred to the Israel-Hamas war as “nothing short of a #genocide.”
Venture capitalist Fady Ghandour, executive chairman of Wamda Capital, has posted anti-Israel screeds on LinkedIn that are remarkably similar to the slurs that forced Cosgrave’s resignation. He accused Israel of “war crimes” and regularly resorted to body-count contests to slam the Jewish state.
Adwa Al Dakheel, founder and CEO of Falak Investment Hub, has referred to Israelis as “retards” and “Israelies,” a play on words vilifying Israelis as liars. Omani investor Mohammed Al Rasbi posted Holocaust images in a 2014 tweet comparing Israel to Germany in 1940.
Even Trevor Noah, comedian Jon Stewart’s disappointing replacement on The Daily Show, has his own history of antisemitic commentary and engaged in the same contest of casualties that cost Cosgrave his job.
When presented with evidence of conference speakers posting antisemitic content to social media, Web Summit promised to investigate but did not respond.
Web Summit Qatar illustrates the perils of doing business in a country that provides a safe haven to international terrorists. If Paddy Cosgrave was forced to resign for his hateful commentary, why is the same or worse behavior tolerated among Middle Eastern CEOs and influencers?
Whatever the answer, investors and innovators should stay far away from Web Summit’s Doha disaster.