Lazar Berman
Times of Israel, Aug. 7, 2023
“They think that what is happening gives an indication of a kind of weakness inside Israel, and they are wrong. These demonstrations express the strength and cohesion of the Israeli state. They should know that the Jewish people have always been distinguished by their internal debates, but in the hour of trial they unite.”
Israel is clearly alarmed by a marked change in Hezbollah’s posture along the country’s most combustible border, in the north.
Last Wednesday, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and President Isaac Herzog made separate trips to the Israel-Lebanon line, both seeking to convey a message of resolve in the face of the newly confident and aggressive Shiite army.
Though the photographs released by Herzog’s office — the president and first lady smiling with a relaxed group of soldiers and officers, none of them armed or wearing combat vests — won’t add much to Israel’s deterrence, his words were of a different tenor altogether.
“I want to tell our enemies — especially Hezbollah on the other side of the border — don’t make a mistake,” he said. “The IDF is strong, it is united. It is capable and will protect and defend our sovereignty and the security and well-being of the people of Israel. This is our top priority.”
The photos of Halevi along Israel’s new security barrier showed him armed and grim as he peered northward.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also sought to warn Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. “It’s better for him not to put us to the test,” he said after Nasrallah threatened to respond to any “stupid act” by Israel.
Finally, in an interview with an Arabic news site on Sunday, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen warned Nasrallah that “Israel can send Lebanon back to the Stone Age.”
The concerted Israeli messaging effort comes in the wake of a pattern of provocations by the powerful Iran-backed militia.
Israel has sought since early June to remove two tents placed by Hezbollah in the contested Mount Dov region, also known as the Shebaa Farms, but only one has so far been dismantled after Israel reportedly sent a message to Hezbollah threatening an armed confrontation if it did not remove the outpost. Nasrallah said his forces would attack Israel if it tries to remove the other one.
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