Tel Aviv: As military delegations from Israel and Lebanon are set to meet at the Pentagon amid a fragile security arrangement along the Lebanon border, Israeli officials insist it is time the US recognised Lebanon’s government and Hezbollah as “two separate entities”. This effectively means that Israel has decided to continue the “war against Hezbollah” while holding diplomatic talks with Beirut to put pressure on the Lebanese government ahead of expected talks in the Pentagon.
“I hope that we will have the talks in the Pentagon with the Lebanese government and allow war against Hezbollah at the same time,” said an intelligence official in Israel.
There is growing impatience in Israel, as it describes the current situation on the Lebanon border as “war on a daily basis”, rather than a functioning ceasefire. The attempt is to put pressure on Washington to handle Beirut differently – from the prism of Israel instead of Iran’s ceasefire deal with America.
Speaking about the evolving situation in Lebanon and the future of negotiations, an Israeli official said their country viewed the moment as historically significant because of the “direct dialogue and direct negotiations between Israelis and the Lebanese government”, but argued that diplomacy alone was insufficient.
On the future of negotiations, Sagiv Asulin, a former Mossad official and researcher at the Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs, said, “Israel, together with America, needs to push and press the Lebanese government much more, to understand that it is better for them to cooperate with Israel and America and Western countries than to rely on Iran proxies and the Iranian regime.”
Israeli security officials believe that Lebanon’s government has not moved decisively enough against Hezbollah, despite months of cross-border fighting and continued Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.
What makes the situation more complicated is Lebanon’s internal political structure, which is deeply fragmented, and sectarian divisions make any dramatic shift towards Israel difficult in the near term.
“There is no other way for the Lebanese government to choose sides,” Asulin said. “Are they with America, Israel, Western countries, or are they with Iran? I think they haven’t reached this decision yet.”
While acknowledging that voices favouring peace with Israel have emerged in Lebanon for the first time, the official simultaneously accused Hezbollah of continuing hostilities and threatening both Israel and Lebanese civilians.
For Israel, the official argued, any long-term stabilisation with Lebanon depends on two parallel developments: militarily defeating Hezbollah and weakening the influence of Iran’s clerical leadership across the region.
“The first attempt is to ensure a military win against Hezbollah. Second, that the Iranian Ayatollah regime will finally need to be defeated,” a security official said.
The first, Israeli officials explain, is an immediate requirement to continue any diplomatic engagement with Beirut going forward.
Concerns are mounting fast, as Israel believes the current arrangement on the northern front of the Lebanon border has effectively collapsed.
“There’s not really a ceasefire in Lebanon,” the official said. “We need to be honest; there’s no ceasefire in Lebanon. There is war in Lebanon on a daily basis.”
Israeli officials admit that initially, they were restrained in their military response out of respect for the United States and ongoing American diplomacy with Iran, but suggested their patience was nearing its limit.
“I think that we have reached a limit that we cannot continue with the situation as it is,” the official said. “In the very near future, we’re going to see also a change in the approach of Israel through Hezbollah to Lebanon.”
In recent months, Israeli officials have argued that Hezbollah poses not only a military threat to Israel but also a destabilising force inside Lebanon itself, particularly through its ties to Iran and its independent military infrastructure.