Lebanon and Hezbollah were only briefly discussed at the meeting on Monday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, but it appears that Israeli and American positions on this issue are identical. During their meeting, Trump gave Netanyahu approval to take action against Hezbollah and reiterated his position that “Hezbollah must be completely disarmed.”
“If the Lebanese army doesn’t succeed in disarming them, and Israel believes an action is the necessary thing to do [then the US backs Israel],” said Trump, according to a source familiar with the details who spoke to The Jerusalem Post. Ahead of the meeting with the prime minister, Trump made it clear that “Hezbollah has been behaving badly,” adding that “the Lebanese government is at a little bit of a disadvantage with Hezbollah.”
“If the Lebanese army doesn’t succeed in disarming them, and Israel believes an action is the necessary thing to do [then the US backs Israel],” said Trump, according to a source familiar with the details who spoke to The Jerusalem Post. Ahead of the meeting with the prime minister, Trump made it clear that “Hezbollah has been behaving badly,” adding that “the Lebanese government is at a little bit of a disadvantage with Hezbollah.”
This public ambiguity appears to have unsettled Hezbollah. “It is difficult to predict the implications of the meeting between Netanyahu and Trump for Lebanon, but it can be assumed that changes and new developments are expected at the beginning of next year,” wrote Hezbollah’s newspaper Al-Akhbar. An article in Al-Joumhouria stated that “it appears Trump has given Netanyahu a green light to act.” In recent weeks, several meetings have been held by the oversight committee for the ceasefire agreement, which includes senior representatives from Israel, Lebanon, the United States, the United Nations, and France. (Read More)
