Mayor David Azoulay’s office in Metula, Israel’s northernmost town, features a portrait of US President Donald Trump and an American flag. It’s not an act of praise, but ironic protest. “Over the past four months, Israel’s policy has been driven entirely by Trump,” said Azoulay, from his office on the Lebanese border, which has become the central sticking point in US-Iranian negotiations to end the war. “Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu is trapped in a bear hug that is slowly suffocating us Israelis. Case in point: the memorandum of understanding with Iran.”
That’s especially true in northern Israel, which is at the heart of the fight between Israel and Hezbollah that even on Friday derailed the first round of peace talks between the US and Iran in Switzerland. It’s also become a source of tension in Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump, who has spent the week publicly slamming the Israeli premier and what he called Israel’s “vicious” approach to Lebanon.
The Galilee Panhandle, a strategic finger of land wedged between the Lebanese and Syrian borders, used to house 50,000 Israeli Jews before three years of Hezbollah rocket attacks left its communities hollowed out. While not entirely deserted, many residents have yet to return, and the streets sit empty amid widespread business closures. In Metula, which was evacuated in October 2023 on fear that Hezbollah would attempt a deadly cross-border infiltration similar to the Hamas assault from Gaza, only two-thirds of the residents have returned. Those who did harbor little faith that real change is feasible. (Ed note: The town of Metula is not just near the border; it physically sits directly on the border with the state of Lebanon.) (Read More)
