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Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-900889
A Tentative Peace in Lebanon Built on the Weakening of Hizbullah
(Media Line-Jerusalem Post) Lt.-Col. (ret.) Jonathan Conricus interviewed by Felice Friedson - Jonathan Conricus, former IDF international spokesman and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said it is "very interesting to see, very telling to see, who is for a peace deal between two sovereign states [Israel and Lebanon] and who's against it." Those truly committed to sovereignty, democracy, and peace should be welcoming a roadmap between Israel and Lebanon, not reflexively resisting it because it weakens "Iran and Hizbullah." He argues that what matters is the practical framework: a continued Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon until the situation is fit for withdrawal. This involves a tentative peace built on the weakening of Hizbullah. Before Oct. 7, Hizbullah was "very, very powerful," armed with "more than 130,000 rockets" and the ability to strike deep into Israel. After the fighting that followed, the "beeper attack," the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah and other senior commanders, and the elimination of the Radwan unit, Hizbullah's military weight had been reduced enough to create room for the chance for the Lebanese state to reassert itself. "We have now kind of turned the tables in Lebanon," he said, arguing that Israeli military action - "forced upon Israel" - unexpectedly opened the door for Lebanon to act like a sovereign state. Referring to the U.S. MoU with Iran, Conricus said the assumption that money appeases extremist regimes is one that history has already rejected. "That never happens. You give money to terrorists and terror supporters, they will use it exactly to continue to promote that agenda."