Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman on Monday said that Israel should occupy southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is no longer a threat.
Although Liberman blasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his failure to heed warnings of a potential Hamas invasion, including from Liberman himself, he significantly supported the invasion of Lebanon and then some.
According to Liberman, a former defense minister and foreign minister, any diplomatic settlement which does not involve an actual disarming of Hezbollah’s main ways to threaten Israel will be a temporary fix and lead Jerusalem back to being stuck with the same Lebanese terror problem at some later date.
At the same time, Liberman said that Israel should make it clear that it has no intention of laying a single settlement in Lebanon, and that it is ready to leave immediately once Hezbollah is no longer a threat.
Anticipating criticism that the creation of such a security zone in southern Lebanon would be a replay of what many consider the failed security zone strategy from 1982-2000, Liberman said that just because the strategy failed before, does not mean it might not work if employed correctly in new and changed circumstances.
First, he noted that over the 18 years, Israel lost around 440 soldiers, and that while this number seemed enormous during that era, that in the post-October 7 era, there are worse scenarios.
Second, he said that the IDF could significantly eliminate such losses if it completely cut off southern Lebanon from the rest of the country, with virtually no exceptions.
This would make it harder for Hezbollah to use civilian cover to attack Israeli positions.
Another necessity he said would be operating three divisions in southern Lebanon to fully staff and cover the area.
Prior to October 7, stationing such a large force on the border would have been unthinkable, but Liberman noted that this is a different era (also currently three divisions is exactly what is in southern Lebanon.)
Next, Liberman said that Israel must not back down in the current direct fight with Iran.
He said that restraining Israel’s attack on Iran in exchange for help from a coalition of allies was well-meaning, but wrong strategically.
Israel can defeat Iran on its own, Liberman says
At the end of the day, he said the US and many other allies are focused on China, Russia, Ukraine, and other issues besides Iran.
Rather, he said Israel on its own can defeat Iran and can also destroy its nuclear weapons program, and should do so.
Moreover, he said that Israel’s natural regional allies, the moderate Sunni countries, would support Israel once they saw it deal with Tehran in a more definitive way.
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