Following the framework agreement signed with Lebanon in Washington on Friday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference on Saturday night.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the press conference that "the Lebanese government showed courage. This is a major blow to Iran and Hezbollah." He also said, "We are breaking the Iranian terror axis, but we are also breaking the Iranian diplomatic axis."
"I strongly opposed the idea that a withdrawal would be imposed on us," the prime minister said. "Lebanon, Israel and the US are telling Iran: 'This is none of your business. You have no standing here, no involvement and no role, not you, not Hezbollah and not any terrorist organization.'"
In a historic image from Washington, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement on Friday night centered on principles of mutual recognition, a clear severing of the Lebanon front from Iran and an Israeli withdrawal that is not automatic, but rather conditioned on Hezbollah's disarmament.
Addressing the Lebanese army's "pilot" in the agreed areas of southern Lebanon, Netanyahu said: "Israel and Lebanon agreed on two areas adjacent to the yellow line, recommended by the IDF, where Hezbollah will be disarmed and control of the territory will be transferred to the Lebanese army. I will show you this on the map. The black line is our international border with Lebanon. The yellow line is the security line, or more accurately, the line of the security zone."
"And here there is a small addition we made in recent weeks," he added. "Where are the pilot areas we are talking about? The first one is here, completely outside the security zone. And the second is an addition beyond our original security zone, which the IDF says is not essential from an operational standpoint and which, in effect, it will leave."
He explained that under the two agreed pilot zones, "Israel remains in the yellow security zone that protects us. And this is a tremendous achievement, because they tried to get us out of there through all kinds of means, with all kinds of pressure. That, of course, did not happen."
Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian issue, claiming that by virtue of the agreement, "we are breaking the diplomatic axis in Iran. We managed to reach this framework of understandings for a simple reason: because we struck Hezbollah hard. And Hezbollah, which expected assistance from Iran, did not receive it. Iran, too, was hit hard by us. And we did all this thanks to the wonderful heroism of our fighters, and also thanks to the prudent and courageous decisions we made."
