August 22, 2024 | Haaretz
Why a Cease-fire Deal With Hezbollah Now Is Bad for Israel
Linking the achievement of truces in Gaza and Lebanon, as international mediators hope to do, would hand the eliminationist Hezbollah a propaganda victory, with dangerous repercussions for Israel's deterrence and defense
August 22, 2024 | Haaretz
Why a Cease-fire Deal With Hezbollah Now Is Bad for Israel
Linking the achievement of truces in Gaza and Lebanon, as international mediators hope to do, would hand the eliminationist Hezbollah a propaganda victory, with dangerous repercussions for Israel's deterrence and defense
Excerpt
Cautious optimism mixed with warning signs continues to accompany Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks, even as a final deal remains elusive and progress has only been made in fits and starts. But various American and Israeli voices are pinning additional hopes on a Gaza truce – that it will also end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
In doing so, they are inadvertently adopting Hezbollah’s position: Preconditioning a cessation of hostilities along the Lebanon-Israel frontier on a prior halt to Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Such a linkage would allow Hezbollah to claim an unprecedented victory over Israel and have a deleterious effect on Israeli national morale and deterrence.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel on October 8, even before the dust had settled on its Gaza-based allies’ murderous rampage in southern Israel. The group’s objective, articulated by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on November 3, was to exhaust Israel into accepting a premature ceasefire in the Gaza Strip so “the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, and Hamas in particular, emerge victorious.”
David Daoud is Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies where he focuses on Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon affairs. On X: @DavidADaoud