The United States wants to use Israel's military offensive against Hezbollah as a springboard to remove the Iranian terror proxy from Lebanon's political system. However, the move is garnering pushback from Egypt and Qatar.
According to a report on Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, the Biden administration is pushing a plan to elect a new president in Lebanon, seeing the weakening of Hezbollah by Israel as an opportunity for serious reform in Beirut.
But the administration is running into Arab opposition. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in recent days to ask them to support the election of a new president. Senior White House official Amos Hochstein has also told Arab officials about the opportunity for a political breakthrough. The reception to the idea in Doha and Cairo was not welcoming, according to the Journal, which cited U.S. and Arab officials familiar with the discussions.
"Officials from Egypt and Qatar — which have played a key role in cease-fire negotiations in both Gaza and Lebanon — told U.S. officials they view the American plan as unrealistic and even dangerous," according to the article.
"In talks with U.S. officials, they have argued that Israel will never succeed in destroying Hezbollah and that the group must be a part of any political settlement to the conflict."
Cairo is also concerned that outside efforts to meddle in Lebanon's domestic politics during the current crisis could raise the risk of fighting between political factions in a country that suffered a devastating civil war from 1975 to 1990.
In contrast to Cairo and Doha, Riyadh supports the U.S. initiative to remove Hezbollah from power, Saudi officials familiar with the matter told the Journal.
The Land of the Cedar has been without a president since Michel Aoun's departure on Oct. 30, 2022.
The article highlights that Lebanon's 128-member parliament chooses the president, with no single bloc holding enough seats to choose a new leader, underscoring the difficulty of achieving this without Hezbollah and its allies in the legislature.
The current prime minister is Najib Mikati, who holds the Sunni seat for the Azm Movement, which has no members in the parliament. The parliament speaker is Nabih Berri, from the Hezbollah-aligned Shi'ite Amal Party.
Both leaders said last week that they support the election of a new president, however, they have also expressed support for Hezbollah in the terror army's conflict with Israel.
Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem this week rejected a cease-fire while Jerusalem continues its military campaign against the terror group.
"As far as we are concerned, prior to the truce, any other discussion is out of place. If the enemy continues its war, the battlefield will decide [between us]," said Qassem.
However, Qassem for the first time signaled the terrorist organization's approval of efforts to reach a truce in Israel's military campaign in Lebanon, irrespective of the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
"We support the political efforts led by Berri under the banner of achieving a cease-fire," the terrorist leader said in a statement.
Once a truce is "firmly established and diplomacy can reach it, all other details will be discussed and decisions will be made collaboratively," he concluded.
Hochstein, after failing to reach a diplomatic solution following months of shuttle diplomacy between Beirut and Jerusalem, is continuing to push for a diplomatic solution. He tweeted on Oct. 4:
"Lots of wrong, irresponsible reporting these last few days. #US did not 'green light' military operations in #Lebanon. Ultimately, only a diplomatic resolution will allow residents to return home. We continue to work with governments of Israel & Lebanon on best path to restore calm."
In mid-September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Hochstein that "it will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north," according to a readout from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
While Jerusalem "appreciates and respects" the Biden administration's support, it will "ultimately do what is necessary to safeguard its security and return the residents of the north securely to their homes," he told Hochstein during a meeting at Israel Defense Forces headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Jerusalem has escalated its military offensive against Hezbollah since adding the safe return of tens of thousands of displaced residents to their homes in the north as an official war goal in mid-September. At the end of September, ground troops entered Lebanese territory for the first time.
Key Hezbollah leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah, have been killed in recent months, and the Israeli Air Force has engaged in relentless bombing of the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiya south of Beirut, in addition to other aerial and ground attacks.
Shortly before the killing of Nasrallah, the United States and France had proposed a 21-day cease-fire.
The Iranian-backed terror army began near-daily rocket and drone attacks in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, the day after the Gaza-based terror group initiated a war by invading the northwestern Negev.
Hezbollah has launched more than 12,400 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel over the past year, killing more than 40 people and causing widespread damage.
Republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate