JPost: Lapid Must Proceed with Caution with Hezbollah

By Staff, JPost

“Israelis” are not ready for a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah, let alone a war with the Lebanese resistance group. The “Israeli” entity’s current fragile political reality and public opinion is an unsupportive setting for launching a pre-emptive attack on Hezbollah, according to the JPost.

According to the “Israelis”, the logic behind the “war between the wars” campaign is to avoid escalation to the greatest extent possible through surgical blows, while recognizing the importance of legitimacy – both domestic and international – in initiating a war. In order for a war to be justified, a series of events or a constitutive one must have occurred.

Thus, for example, the entity’s then-prime minister Arik Sharon waited for the launching of “Operation Defensive Shield” [2002] until he was convinced, following the severe attack on the Park Hotel, that “Israeli” public opinion would support this offensive.

Moreover, the "Second Lebanon War" or the "Israeli" aggression on Lebanon [2006] was preceded by the capture of “Israeli” Occupation Forces’ [IOF] soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev by Hezbollah. This led to broad support to launch a war against the resistance group.

However, regarding Karish, it is not likely that “Israeli” public will support initiating a war against Hezbollah now. Similarly, the international community will strive to prevent a war in Lebanon, considering the dire economic situation in the country. It is also important to point out that starting a war against Hezbollah will be an irresponsible act on the part of Yair Lapid, the provisional prime minister in the current sensitive and fragile political climate.

On the eve of a fifth election campaign in three years, Lapid, like Ehud Olmert during the 2006 aggession on Lebanon, lacks experience in the security realm. Considering this reality, “Israelis” believe that the prime minister now needs a stable and experienced team of experts when it comes to dealing with security threats looming at the doorstep of the “Israeli” entity.

One way to keep Lapid’s so-called national security team as stable as possible would be to wait for the appointment of the successor of IOF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Aviv Kohavi, who will end his tenure shortly. While this is an organizational and administrative step and ordered by law, it could have meaningful implications, and potentially shock the entity’s "national security" decision-making in a sensitive period such as this.

A second means beyond the military front is the diplomatic channel. US President Joe Biden’s visit last week to the Middle East is long overdue for Lapid, but was also an opportunity for action on the diplomatic front against Hezbollah.