Transcript [00:00] I'll bring in our former Israeli [00:02] national spokesperson Eylon Levy. He's [00:04] in Tel Aviv. Eylon, thank you for [00:05] joining us on the program today. And 12 [00:08] people have been reportedly killed in [00:10] those strikes across southern Lebanon. [00:12] Several towns were also hit by the [00:15] attacks by the Israelis. How serious is [00:17] this latest escalation? And what does it [00:19] tell us about the current security [00:21] situation in the region? [00:24] >> Israel is hoping that Hezbollah will get [00:26] the message and stop resisting efforts [00:28] to disarm it. Both Israel and Lebanon [00:31] are fed up that this Iranian terrorist [00:34] group is clinging onto its own private [00:37] army inside Lebanon. There is a [00:39] diplomatic solution, a peace process [00:41] through the United States. Hezbollah is [00:44] meant to disarm, Israel will withdraw, [00:47] and Lebanon will take over territory so [00:49] there can be peace between these two [00:50] countries. But Lebanon is refusing to [00:53] disarm, and just Sorry, Hezbollah is [00:55] refusing to disarm. And just now we saw [00:57] Hezbollah launching two drones at [01:00] Israeli soldiers, injuring them. That's [01:03] a a threat that Israel cannot tolerate. [01:05] So, it's hoping Hezbollah got the [01:07] message, it will be quiet, and allow [01:09] Lebanon to disarm it. [01:11] >> In other words, a ceasefire is in limbo [01:14] as we speak. It cannot be said be [01:15] ceasefire still, but Israel says those [01:18] strikes are carried out in response, as [01:20] you rightly pointed out, to the attacks [01:22] by Hezbollah. [01:24] Uh, the explosive drone. How credible is [01:26] the justification though? Uh, the fact [01:28] that Israel has been targeting Hezbollah [01:31] in southern Lebanon, uh, which is what [01:34] resulted, um, which led to the ceasefire [01:37] previously, uh, brokered by the United [01:39] States. Where can we say that that [01:41] stands now? Um, [01:44] is there some sort of truce between the [01:46] two sides, or is that completely taken [01:49] off the table now because of the strikes [01:52] and retaliatory strikes between the two? [01:55] >> Look, you say the ceasefire is in limbo, [01:58] so we need to explain the situation. [02:00] Hezbollah never agreed to a ceasefire. [02:03] Iran's proxy army in Lebanon never [02:05] agreed to stop attacking Israel. What we [02:08] have is a diplomatic process between the [02:10] sovereign government of Israel and the [02:12] sovereign government of Lebanon that [02:14] want to make peace with each other and [02:16] have the same enemy, Hezbollah, stuck in [02:19] the middle. And there is a process now [02:21] whereby the Lebanese army is meant to [02:24] dismantle Hezbollah, and as it pulls [02:27] apart this Iranian terrorist army, [02:30] Israel can pull back and Lebanon can [02:32] take back its territory, and we can have [02:33] peace between those two sides. But, [02:36] Hezbollah never agreed to stop shooting, [02:38] and that means that when it continues to [02:40] attack Israeli soldiers, Israel isn't [02:43] going to leave its soldiers as sitting [02:45] ducks to Hezbollah attacks. It's going [02:48] to respond firmly against Hezbollah and [02:51] continue to reach out to Lebanon saying, [02:53] "We want peace. We want this to end. You [02:56] need to take responsibility for your own [02:58] territory. You can't have a private [03:00] Iranian army running rampage on your [03:02] territory. Dismantle Hezbollah, we will [03:05] withdraw, and we can have peace." [03:08] >> Why do you think that Lebanon is paying [03:09] so much lip service, you know, to this? [03:12] The fact that they do not want to [03:13] dismantle Hezbollah, as you said, and [03:16] allowing this um Iranian rebel group [03:19] Iranian uh militant group to run haywire [03:22] in Lebanon and uh carry out those those [03:25] attacks on Israel? Why do you think the [03:27] Lebanese government is weak in the face [03:31] of Hezbollah? [03:33] >> That's a very good question. The [03:35] Lebanese state has been absolutely [03:36] useless in dismantling Hezbollah, [03:39] despite promising to do it for decades. [03:41] And the reason is a combination of both [03:43] will and capacity. On the one hand, [03:46] Hezbollah is a political actor inside [03:49] Lebanon. It has key allies within the [03:52] Shiite political system inside Lebanon [03:55] who are trying to slow down, disrupt [03:57] this um demilitarization because they [04:00] don't want Hezbollah to be disarmed. But [04:02] there's also a lack of capacity. They [04:04] don't want to pick a fight with a [04:06] powerful militia because for the [04:08] Lebanese government to forcibly grab [04:11] weapons off Hezbollah, that's one group [04:13] of armed Lebanese people fighting with [04:15] other armed Lebanese people and they [04:17] really don't want that domestic [04:19] conflict. But that's the choice facing [04:22] Lebanon now. If it wants its territory, [04:25] it's going to have to control its [04:27] territory like a normal sovereign [04:29] country. It doesn't get to have a [04:31] territory that will be handed over to [04:33] this proxy army it's too scared to uh to [04:36] break apart. So Israel is hoping now [04:38] that with the full support of the United [04:40] States and with European countries [04:42] pouring money into the Lebanese armed [04:44] forces to build up their capacity that [04:47] the Lebanese army will be strong enough [04:49] and politicians will have enough will, [04:52] political will to dismantle Hezbollah, [04:55] that it might actually happen this time. [04:57] But Israel is being very clear, until [04:59] Hezbollah is dismantled, Israel will [05:02] hold on to that security zone in [05:04] southern Lebanon so that the houses in [05:07] northern Israel are outside the range of [05:10] Hezbollah's over-the-shoulder rocket [05:12] launchers and drones and other other [05:14] attacks. [05:15] >> How how [05:16] feasible do you think this is? I mean, [05:18] the United States did pour in a lot of [05:20] support behind um the Afghan government, [05:24] you know, when it was still in [05:25] Afghanistan and by the time it left, the [05:27] Taliban uh were already taking over [05:30] Afghanistan. So why put in enough trust [05:33] in the United States now as it pours in [05:36] money and support into the Lebanese [05:38] government to build the army hoping that [05:41] this would help stop Hezbollah from, you [05:44] know, terrorizing Israel in the end? [05:47] >> Yeah, that's a very good point. There [05:49] are many reasons to be skeptical that [05:51] this US backed process can succeed [05:54] because Hezbollah is a fundamentalist [05:57] Shiite terrorist organization that is [05:59] resisting efforts to disarm it. [06:02] Because the Lebanese government doesn't [06:04] have the capacity to dismantle [06:05] Hezbollah. This is going to be an uphill [06:07] climb. And that is why Israel isn't [06:10] trusting Lebanon to dismantle Hezbollah, [06:12] pulling back to the border and hoping [06:14] for the best. It's holding on to that [06:16] security zone as a guarantee. If Lebanon [06:20] manages to pull this off, Israel will [06:22] pull back and there will be a peaceful [06:24] border. If Lebanon can't do it, then [06:27] Israel will keep its citizens safe [06:29] itself. But I think something has [06:31] changed inside Lebanon. We see more and [06:33] more Lebanese people speaking out [06:36] against Hezbollah, understanding that it [06:38] is keeping them committed to a cycle of [06:41] conflict, unnecessary conflict with [06:43] Israel, and wanting Hezbollah to get out [06:46] of the way. And as the source of money [06:49] and weapons from Iran is choked off [06:52] because the Iranian regime is much [06:54] weaker, well, that leaves Hezbollah [06:57] without any allies. Hezbollah's only [06:59] support comes from the international [07:01] narcotics network that it runs cuz it's [07:03] a terrorist organization and [07:06] international crime syndicate. So, if [07:08] Hezbollah is isolated from the Iranian [07:11] regime, if the Lebanese people are fed [07:14] up with [07:15] with Hezbollah, and if the Lebanese army [07:17] gets enough support from the US and [07:19] Europe, they might pull it off. But [07:22] again, Israel isn't trusting that this [07:24] will happen automatically, and it's [07:25] holding on to that security zone to keep [07:28] houses in northern Israel safe in case [07:30] Lebanon fails. [07:32] >> Well, Eylon, thanks again for joining us [07:34] on the program and for sharing your [07:36] analysis on this. [07:38] >> Pleasure as always.
