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When Should Israel Fight Hizbullah?
(Wall Street Journal) Elliot Kaufman - Iran's Lebanese proxy militia Hizbullah has depopulated the north of Israel. Israel has evacuated 70,000 civilians as Hizbullah has fired more than 5,000 missiles and drones since Oct. 7. Israel has killed some 360 Hizbullah fighters, but Hizbullah has an army of tens of thousands, plus at least 150,000 missiles. A source close to Prime Minister Netanyahu said: "We're building up our arms industry, stockpiling so the U.S. can't blackmail us....We'll have a war when we're ready." This will take some time. So too, he says, will a cost-effective solution to Hizbullah's suicide drones. An Israeli negotiator adds that it would be foolish to attempt the war on the eve of U.S. elections. Tamir Hayman, the leader of Israel's Institute for National Security Studies and a former head of Israeli military intelligence, explains, "Better to do it a couple of years from now. We don't have the resources, the international legitimacy or the full approval of the U.S. to go to war in Lebanon right now." Israeli military officials say the Biden administration wants to avert war but is going about it all wrong. Its focus on restraining Israel emboldens the terrorists - making war more likely. When the Biden administration withholds arms or delays their transfer, Hizbullah can take the threat of an Israeli attack less seriously. Right now Tehran feels confident, notes Hayman. "Iran is a nuclear threshold state. It effectively controls four other states in the region. Practically, it faces no real threat, while Israel faces huge threats. So, of course it considers its strategic posture superior to Israel's."