This past weekend was a particularly hot one for Israel. On Sept. 1, the Iranian proxy Hezbollah launched anti-tank missiles across Israel's northern border, directly aiming at an Israeli military base. Fortunately, there were no sustained injuries. Israel responded by attacking Lebanese targets and the outlying borders of Lebanese communities along the Syria-Lebanon border. Again, there are no known casualties.
This was the first time since the 2006 Second Lebanon War that there has been a significant military exchange between Hezbollah and Israel. This skirmish may have been contained for now but the situation remains extremely tense.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
What makes it tenser still is that this is a shadow war; the Islamic republic is the puppetmaster pulling the strings of Hezbollah and other Shiite proxy groups throughout Iraq, Syria, Lebanon. and Yemen.
According to Brig. Gen. (ret.) Michael Herzog, who spoke for the Endowment for Middle East Truth on a conference call on Tuesday, the recent eruption of violence is part of the showdown that has been going on for several years now. The main factor, he believes, is Tehran's plans to make use of the turmoil by becoming the dominant force there.
He explained that what we are now seeing is part of the two-pronged plan outlined in 2016 by Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, to create a direct corridor from Tehran through Bagdad, Damascus, and Beirut to the Mediterranean Sea; and to build a formidable proxy front through Hezbollah and other Shiite militias.
This comes at the same time that the Iranians are putting on a benign mask regarding the intentions of their nuclear program. Right now, they are playing brinkmanship with the international community, threatening to enrich uranium to 20% if they do not get immediate sanctions relief. (Once that level is reached, it is supposedly easy to get to the 90% level – the level of enrichment necessary for a nuclear bomb.)
Now they are asking for up to $15 billion from the international community in sanctions relief. There is one word for this: blackmail.
And the Europeans, particularly the French, are all too willing to be blackmailed.
It is incredibly upsetting that French President Emmanuel Macron is fine with giving the Iranians that exorbitant sum of money without any preconditions, simply for coming to the table. It is obvious that they failed to learn anything from the last round of Iranian negotiations, which also rewarded Iran with money up front.
This works against any leverage that the United States has been using to pressure the Iranians to give up their two goals, as outlined by Soleimani.
Both Iran and Hezbollah are under increasing economic pressure as a result of American sanctions.
If the international community persists in finding ways to offer the Iranians "economic relief" and evade sanctions, we will never quell the massive Iranian appetite for expansion and control.
What is almost equally upsetting is the fact that the United States has been giving the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) upwards of $100 million a year – $1.7 billion over the last 10 years – especially realizing that the LAF has fallen increasingly under the grip of Hezbollah.
We have watched as Hezbollah has taken over more and more power within Lebanon. According to Herzog, "There is a lot of concern in Israel today about Hezbollah and the Lebanese government. We have seen that Hezbollah is now the strongest political party. They have veto power within the Lebanese parliament and veto power within the defense establishment.
"Lebanese President Michel Aoun is an ally of Hezbollah. Aoun has stated officially that Hezbollah's military capabilities complement the military capabilities of the State of Lebanon, so the state embraces Hezbollah as a military actor. We have seen coordination of the state military, the LAF, and Hezbollah. We have seen this in a coordinated attack against Islamists a few years ago and we have seen it recently when Israel discovered cross-border tunnels from Lebanon into Israel and the LAF resisted attempts to prevent this.
"And we have concerns about the lack of willingness of UNIFIL to go after Hezbollah as well."
Adds Herzog: "This calls for a rethinking of the aid that the United States gives to the Lebanese Armed Forces. Israel has not been very vocal about this but I know there are many concerns here."
The reason that America initially gave money to the Lebanese Armed Forces was as a result of the 2006 war, to help them to distance themselves from Hezbollah. According to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, all other armed groups besides the LAF must be out of Lebanon.
That includes Hezbollah.
Now that Hezbollah has been fully embraced by the LAF, one of the first things that the United States can do to prevent Soleimani and the Iranian mullahs from fulfilling their expansionist objectives is to immediately halt all money to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
