Iran, which has predictably recognized the unimaginable weakness of the Trump administration, is trying to force the US to force Israel to withdraw from Lebanon completely. Ostensibly, the goal of the Iranian move is to achieve a strategic victory in removing Israel from Lebanon.
On the surface, Iran’s goal appears to be a strategic victory by removing Israel from Lebanon. In reality, it’s far more ambitious: the Iranians understand that an IDF withdrawal from Lebanon would lead to the abandonment of northern Israel’s residents and the first-ever de facto loss of Israeli territory within the 1948 borders.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing one of the greatest leadership tests of his career. He must stand up to President Trump and America to prevent an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon at all costs—because the alternative is a disaster of historic proportions, with no way to predict where it would end.
America signed an agreement with a country that declares its desire to destroy Israel, according to which Israel must stop fighting a terrorist organization that is trying to destroy it. And when Israel does not agree, America’s vice president paints it as a traitor.
Meanwhile, CNN reports that Iran has set a new condition for continuing negotiations with the United States: guarantees for ending the war in Lebanon. According to a diplomatic source involved in the details, mediators are now working to resolve the issue, but because of Iran’s demand, the round of talks that was scheduled to take place in Switzerland has been postponed for now.