Transcript [00:00] Hey everyone, so I want to do an update [00:02] on what's going on in Lebanon. There [00:03] were talks this week in Rome between the [00:06] Israelis and the Lebanese [00:08] uh in order to move forward ostensibly [00:11] on on uh further uh progress in what's [00:15] going on in Lebanon. Just to level set, [00:17] there was an agreement signed at the end [00:18] of June [00:20] between the Israelis and the Lebanese [00:21] that talked about Israel remaining in [00:23] Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed, but [00:26] also withdrawing progressively from [00:30] pilot zones that would then be taken [00:32] over by the Lebanese armed forces to [00:34] ensure that Hezbollah is removed and [00:36] Israel withdrew from two zones like [00:38] that. [00:39] And uh now we're in the second stage of [00:41] talks. And they're kind of going the way [00:44] you'd expect them to go if you follow [00:46] these things. So, let's take a look at [00:48] some of what's going on there. [00:49] Uh we'll see how things went. Um I [00:52] should also [00:53] add that um there were two Israeli [00:56] soldiers who were killed a couple days [00:58] ago. And uh that is, you know, [01:02] that's something that Israel is [01:04] responding to in force right now. We're [01:06] going to see some of that covered in [01:08] these stories. Israel steps up attacks [01:10] on Hezbollah clouding talks with [01:12] Lebanon. Strikes complicate diplomatic [01:15] efforts aimed at disarming the [01:16] Iran-backed militias. This is from the [01:18] Wall Street Journal. Israel has stepped [01:20] up its attacks in southern Lebanon after [01:22] weeks of relative calm as delegations [01:26] from both countries finished another [01:29] round of US-brokered talks exploring a [01:31] diplomatic solution to years of [01:32] fighting. Israel accused the Iran-backed [01:34] militia Hezbollah of violating a [01:36] ceasefire on Wednesday [01:39] and began striking what it said was the [01:40] group's infrastructure in southern [01:42] Lebanon after two of its soldiers were [01:44] killed by an explosive device in a [01:47] booby-trapped building in the village of [01:48] Majdal Zoun, an area the Israeli [01:51] military has held for months. Among the [01:53] targets the Israeli military said were a [01:55] Hezbollah command center and and weapon [01:58] storage facilities. [02:01] US, Israeli, and Lebanese officials are [02:03] also pushing ahead with a plan to train [02:06] and vet elite units of Lebanese military [02:11] to work toward disarming Hezbollah as [02:13] Israel withdraws. [02:15] Okay. [02:16] I could read that sentence again [02:19] and it still won't make any sense. It [02:21] says here that US, Israeli, and Lebanese [02:23] officials are pushing ahead with a plan [02:25] to train and vet elite units of the [02:29] Lebanese military to work towards [02:32] disarming Hezbollah as Israel withdraws. [02:34] Now, why do I say that this makes sense? [02:35] It makes sense that they're pushing [02:37] ahead to do this. [02:41] The question about whether Hezbollah [02:43] ever gets disarmed [02:45] is [02:47] whether or not the Lebanese people have [02:50] any will [02:52] to fight for their country. And I say to [02:54] fight for their country. [02:56] One of the problems we're having [02:57] throughout the Arab world [02:59] is an unwillingness to actually fight. [03:03] Okay, we see it with the this tentative [03:07] way the Saudis defend themselves, the [03:09] Emiratis defend themselves. All of these [03:11] Arab countries, they're never really [03:13] willing to fight. [03:16] And if Lebanon is ever going to be free [03:18] of Hezbollah, it's going to take the [03:20] Lebanese people [03:21] pushing back in a serious way to disarm [03:24] Hezbollah means that you're going to war [03:25] with them. It means some measure of [03:27] civil war. Lebanon's been in a state of [03:29] civil war for decades. [03:31] And here the US and Israel are going to [03:33] help them. The question is [03:35] is this really even possible? The Wall [03:37] Street Journal reported this last month. [03:39] Okay, a confrontation between Hezbollah [03:40] and Lebanon's regular army is extremely [03:43] sensitive in a country with a history of [03:45] civil war. [03:46] The round of talks that ended Thursday [03:48] didn't end in a significant [03:50] breakthrough. Lebanon was hoping for [03:52] Israel to agree to hand back more [03:54] Lebanese villages, but Israel resisted. [03:57] US and Lebanese officials said, "Okay, [04:00] Israel is first pushing for a [04:01] third-party state to verify territory [04:05] being returned to Lebanon is cleared [04:09] of Hezbollah fighters, infrastructure, [04:11] and arms." The official said, "Italy's a [04:13] frontrunner to be that third party." In [04:15] other words, Israel's saying, "We're not [04:17] withdrawing until we know that we can [04:18] verify that all the Hezbollah guys, all [04:21] the Hezbollah infrastructure is [04:22] removed." And meanwhile, the Lebanese [04:24] are just pushing for Israel to withdraw [04:27] some more. Here's the Times of Israel [04:28] report, "Despite deadly flare-up in [04:30] violence, US claims progress made in [04:33] Israel-Lebanon talks." The US State [04:35] Department asserted Thursday, that's [04:37] yesterday, that progress was made in [04:39] negotiations between Israel and Lebanon [04:41] in Rome, despite a significant flare-up [04:43] in violence a day earlier. The two sides [04:46] are a lot closer on what needs to be [04:47] done to advance and expand pilot zone [04:50] process, a State Department spokesperson [04:53] said Thursday after Jerusalem and Beirut [04:55] wrapped up their seventh round of direct [04:57] talks. The negotiations picked up amid [05:00] the heaviest the heaviest cross-border [05:02] fighting in weeks, with the IDF striking [05:05] Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon [05:07] after two IDF soldiers were killed by an [05:10] explosive on Wednesday. But a Lebanese [05:13] presidential source told AFP, that's [05:15] Agence France-Presse, on Thursday [05:18] that Israel had refused in talks to [05:20] withdraw from more areas of South [05:22] Lebanon until the Lebanese army had full [05:24] control of an initial two pilot zones. [05:27] Meaning, the Lebanese army isn't even [05:29] fully in control of the two zones they [05:30] were handed. The Lebanese Armed Forces [05:33] are a problem. Their their commander, [05:36] Rudolph Haykal, is is is very favorable [05:39] to Hezbollah. He's not the guy we want [05:42] in charge of a force that's supposed to [05:44] prevent Hezbollah from from from [05:47] rebuilding and and or or possibly even [05:50] in charge of a force that's supposed to [05:51] disarm Hezbollah. Rudolph Heikal is part [05:54] of the problem. He's the general of the [05:55] Lebanese Armed Forces. About there's an [05:59] estimated they say around a third or [06:01] maybe more members of the Lebanese Armed [06:03] Forces are actually Shiites who are [06:05] sympathetic to Hezbollah. [06:08] We got a problem. [06:10] Quote, "Lebanon is keen to move on to [06:12] new areas, whereas the Israeli side [06:14] insists on verifying the implementation [06:17] of the first two zones before proceeding [06:19] to the next stage." The source added. [06:22] The [06:22] The Haaretz news site said that Israel [06:25] is refusing to conduct further [06:26] withdrawals and amid disagreements over [06:29] the mechanism for inspecting whether [06:31] territory has been cleared of Hezbollah [06:33] operatives and and infrastructure. [06:35] After 3 days of US-mediated talks in [06:37] Rome this week, the sides have yet to [06:38] agree on which countries would would be [06:40] represented in the verification [06:42] committee. [06:43] Haaretz reported adding that a small [06:45] list of potential countries has been put [06:47] together, but no consensus has been [06:48] reached. American mediators told their [06:51] Lebanese counterparts on Wednesday, [06:53] this is an important line, that they do [06:55] not intend to pressure Israel to [06:57] accelerate the IDF's withdrawal, [06:59] according to the report, and that the [07:01] Lebanese Armed Forces must take clear [07:03] steps in disarming Hezbollah across [07:05] Lebanon so that the pilot zones can be [07:07] accelerated and expanded. A diplomat [07:10] familiar with the negotiations who spoke [07:12] on condition of anonymity because they [07:14] were not authorized to comment publicly [07:16] said earlier this week that Lebanon had [07:18] asked for the next pilot zone to either [07:21] be to be either in the town of Khiam [07:24] or Bint Jbeil. Both areas saw heavy [07:28] fighting in the latest Israel-Hezbollah [07:29] war and are currently occupied by [07:31] Israeli forces. [07:33] A An Israeli withdrawal from Bint Jbeil, [07:34] let me just [07:36] that name might not be familiar to a lot [07:37] of you. It would be an extremely [07:40] unpopular move in Israel right now [07:42] because Bint Jbeil not only was it heavy [07:44] fighting [07:46] Bint Jbeil was like the one of the main [07:48] maybe the main Hezbollah town [07:53] in South Lebanon [07:54] uh for a long time [07:57] uh and [07:58] it was [08:00] a very important move by the Israeli [08:02] army to to uh go in there and clean it [08:06] out. [08:09] And it's it's also the site [08:12] where years ago many years ago Hassan [08:14] Nasrallah gave a a speech that's very [08:17] famous in Israel [08:18] where he he uh [08:21] he disparaged the IDF and the Israelis [08:24] and said that we're just a paper tiger [08:26] or in his term we're like just like a [08:29] like a spider web. [08:32] So [08:34] for Israelis the name Bint Jbeil has a [08:36] lot of meaning [08:38] and the Lebanese are asking for that to [08:39] be the next pilot zone but Israel [08:41] listen, the bottom line on this pilot [08:42] zone thing is this it's exactly what we [08:44] thought it would be when when this [08:46] process started [08:48] we knew what was going to happen. The [08:50] Lebanese all the Lebanon all the Lebanon [08:53] side wants is Israeli withdrawal. [08:55] And Israel is saying yeah we're happy to [08:57] withdraw but it has to be with verified [09:00] disarming of Hezbollah and we have to [09:02] verify that these towns are totally [09:04] clear of Hezbollah and Hezbollah [09:06] infrastructure and that the Lebanese [09:07] armed forces shows their capability of [09:09] holding this [09:11] situation and we haven't seen that yet [09:13] so we're not withdrawing any further. [09:15] We knew that this game was going to get [09:16] played and that's why it's so important [09:18] to see that the Americans are saying [09:19] they're not going to pressure the [09:20] Israelis. I don't know if the Israelis [09:21] would give it into the pressure anyway [09:23] under the current circumstances. Uh look [09:26] before we go on I want to remind you [09:27] about the big event that we have coming [09:29] up and that is webinar happening on [09:31] Sunday August 16th that's not this [09:35] coming Sunday but next Sunday Sunday, [09:37] August 16th at 2:00 p.m. uh Eastern [09:41] Standard Time, 9:00 p.m. in Israel, [09:43] Mamdani's New York City, A Warning to [09:46] America. We have an unbelievable panel, [09:48] former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, [09:51] um and uh PragerU writer and analyst, [09:54] Shabbas Kestenbaum, the author, the very [09:57] prolific author, Robert Spencer, who's [09:58] also the founder of Jihad Watch, and [10:01] Rabbi Daniel Schonbach of [10:03] rabbi4america.com, who is one of the [10:05] leaders of the [10:07] of the uh of the grassroots fight right [10:10] now [10:11] uh against Mamdani. He's become uh uh an [10:13] important leader in the Jewish community [10:14] in the New York area. [10:16] So, we uh this is going to be an [10:18] amazing, amazing webinar. I mean, I'm [10:20] super excited about about all these [10:21] panelists. [10:23] Sunday, August 16th, you can sign up for [10:25] it in the link in the description of [10:26] this video, or you can go to [10:28] israel365.com/mamdani, [10:31] or you could click the QR code that is [10:34] on your screen. [10:36] And if you can't make the time of the [10:38] webinar, that doesn't You should still [10:40] register if you want to watch it because [10:42] if you register for the webinar, as soon [10:44] as it's done, you will get an email with [10:46] a link to be able to watch the full [10:48] webinar at your convenience. So, make [10:51] sure if you want to watch the webinar, [10:53] whether you can make it or not, make [10:54] sure that you are registered. You don't [10:55] want to miss it. Okay. [10:58] Let's get back to the subject at hand [11:02] um of what's going on in Lebanon with [11:04] these with these recent talks and all [11:06] that. So, here's a here's a report from [11:07] Arab News. This is a Saudi-linked [11:10] outlet. It's owned by a member of the [11:11] Saudi royal family. Lebanon [11:14] Israel report progress in Rome talks as [11:16] border violence escalates. [11:19] Lebanon and Israel made progress in the [11:21] seventh round of US-sponsored direct [11:23] negotiations in Rome on Wednesday, [11:24] Lebanese sources told Al Arabiya, [11:27] although the session ended earlier than [11:29] planned [11:30] amid conflicting accounts over why the [11:32] talks were temporarily suspended. This [11:34] is interesting. [11:36] Lebanese sources told Al Arabiya that [11:37] Wednesday's discussions advanced across [11:39] political, military, and border-related [11:41] issues with the most significant [11:43] progress made on the border file after [11:45] talks covering the 1949 Armistice Line, [11:48] the 2000 Blue Line, and the situation on [11:51] the ground in Southern Lebanon. The 1949 [11:53] Armistice Line was the ceasefire line [11:55] established [11:56] after the first Arab- [12:02] Sorry. After the first Arab-Israeli War, [12:04] and the 2000 Blue Line was the UN-drawn [12:07] line marking Israel's withdrawal from [12:09] Southern Lebanon. [12:11] According to the sources, the Lebanese [12:12] delegation requested a 60-day renewal of [12:15] the ceasefire to help consolidate the [12:17] truce, halt violations, and allow [12:20] implementation of the framework [12:21] agreement reached in June to continue [12:24] under more stable conditions. They just [12:25] want more periods of Israel committing [12:28] not to attack, and that way they can [12:30] turn to the Lebanese people and say, [12:31] "You see, we brought you quiet." [12:34] The sources also said discussions [12:35] advanced on legal and border references, [12:38] and that participants sorted proposals [12:40] concerning a third party that would [12:42] oversee the verification and monitoring [12:44] mechanism for implementing the [12:46] agreement, paving the way for further [12:48] talks. However, accounts differed over [12:50] why Wednesday's session ended around 3 [12:53] hours before its scheduled conclusion. [12:56] A diplomatic source familiar with the [12:58] talks told Al Arabiya that Yakhil [13:00] Leiter, the Israeli delegation head and [13:02] ambassador to Washington, requested the [13:04] session end early citing what he [13:06] described as repeated misleading leaks [13:10] by the Lebanese side. [13:12] Agence France-Presse, citing a source [13:14] from the Israeli negotiating team, [13:16] similarly reported that Israel had asked [13:18] US mediators to end the session early, [13:20] with Leiter criticizing what he called [13:23] repeated and defamatory leaks from the [13:26] Lebanese delegation. Wow. [13:30] So, Ambassador Leiter is none too happy [13:32] that the Lebanese were putting out all [13:35] sorts of defamatory leaks against [13:37] Israel. This has been the problem with [13:38] the whole Lebanon thing. We know that [13:41] the Lebanese government wants to get rid [13:44] of Hezbollah and wants their sovereignty [13:46] back. We know that. [13:48] We know that there's a huge percentage [13:50] of the Lebanese people that want to be [13:51] rid of Hezbollah, but they're so scared [13:53] of Hezbollah. [13:55] And they're so scared of of of being [13:58] seen in the eyes of the Muslim [14:00] population as being pro-Israel. [14:03] That they just disparage Israel. [14:06] And and and there's all this like double [14:08] talk. We're going to get into more of [14:10] the double talk in a minute. [14:14] In in one of the next pieces. According [14:16] to the Lebanon source according to [14:18] Lebanese sources cited by Al Arabiya, [14:20] Wednesday's talks focused on three main [14:22] tracks, political, military, and border [14:24] issues. We saw that already. [14:27] Uh we already talked about the blue line [14:28] and the other lines. [14:30] The two sides were also expected to [14:32] discuss the issue of prisoners during [14:33] Thursday's meeting according to Lebanese [14:35] sources. The negotiations come against a [14:37] backdrop of renewed fighting along the [14:39] border. Israel launched a series of [14:41] overnight strikes on towns in southern [14:43] Lebanon including Bourj al-Shamali and [14:45] Mansouri according to Lebanon's [14:48] state-run National News Agency. The [14:50] strikes came after Israel had issued [14:52] evacuation warnings for residents of [14:54] Mansouri. The Israeli military said on [14:56] Tuesday it had carried out precision [14:58] strikes in southern Lebanon in response [15:01] to what it described as a blatant [15:02] violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah. [15:07] Uh Rome talks focus on Lebanon detainees [15:10] as negotiation with Israel makes limited [15:12] progress. Basically, a lot of the same [15:14] information in this piece. This is Arab [15:16] News Japan but there was a couple [15:18] paragraphs I thought were interesting. [15:19] An official Lebanese source told Arab [15:21] News that the discussions focused on [15:23] expanding the pilot security zones, [15:25] consolidating Lebanese army control in [15:27] areas [15:29] already transferred to the state, [15:30] establishing a timetable for model [15:32] zones, and determining who would oversee [15:34] the verification progress. [15:37] Um in in the verification I'm sorry, the [15:40] verification of weapons restrictions in [15:42] those areas. [15:43] Uh and Lebanon again, you see here that [15:45] they they mentioned Bint Jbeil. [15:47] It says that about 50 countries had [15:50] expressed willingness to participate in [15:51] a future verification mechanism after [15:54] the US declined to take on the role. [15:57] Israel continues to insist on leading [16:00] the mechanism itself, a proposal Lebanon [16:03] categorically rejects. That's the line. [16:08] Israel, look, [16:11] for a long, long time, going all the way [16:13] back to 1979, [16:16] to the deal with Egypt, Israel [16:20] I I Israel went down this path [16:23] of trusting other entities, [16:26] of trusting [16:28] uh deals that it signed, of trusting the [16:31] Americans security guarantees, of [16:34] trusting [16:36] UNIFIL, the UN, uh [16:38] basically trusting [16:41] other people with elements of its own [16:43] security. That era ended on October 7th. [16:46] Ended. [16:48] And that's part of the I guess we could [16:50] call it the frustration that everyone [16:51] else has with the Israelis now, which is [16:54] we're not going to trust anybody with [16:55] anything. We're not going to withdraw [16:57] not from Gaza, not from Lebanon, not [16:58] from Syria. Nothing. We're not [17:01] withdrawing from anywhere until we can [17:03] verify that the threats are gone. [17:06] We're not going to take anyone's word [17:07] for it or trust that they're going to do [17:09] something about it. No. [17:11] That is what has changed. So, look what [17:13] you have here. [17:14] The whole [17:16] the whole concept of this plan is very [17:18] simple. Hezbollah [17:20] the Southern Lebanon is [17:22] Southern Lebanon is infested with [17:24] Hezbollah just like Gaza, terror [17:26] tunnels, weapons depots, towns that are [17:29] made up of Hezbollah people. Okay, [17:30] that's that's the problem. Israel is [17:31] saying we are going to clean that out. [17:34] We are going to remove the threat [17:35] because they they attack our civilians, [17:38] our northern towns get shelled, get hit [17:41] by rockets. We never we didn't start [17:44] anything. [17:46] After October 7th, Hezbollah started [17:48] attacking us. We went to war against [17:50] Iran February 28th, March 1st, Hezbollah [17:53] starts attacking us. [17:54] If Hezbollah is going to attack us from [17:55] the north every Think of all the wars [17:57] Israel's had over the last 40 years with [17:59] Hezbollah. [18:00] And Israel's like we've had enough. [18:02] We're not going to deal with it. We are [18:03] going to clean it out. And we are going [18:05] to verify. We're happy to withdraw. We [18:07] have no territorial ambitions in [18:09] Lebanon. But we will only withdraw when [18:11] we have verified [18:13] that that the areas that that we're [18:15] withdrawing from are free of Hezbollah [18:17] completely. So, look what Israel says. [18:20] Israel insists on leading the mechanism [18:22] to verify that it's been disarmed. And [18:25] Lebanon categorically rejects it. That's [18:28] the double talk. [18:29] When I said before that there's this [18:30] double talk, there's like it's more than [18:31] double talk. It's [18:34] The Lebanese say that they want to be [18:36] rid of Hezbollah. [18:37] But they don't act like it. [18:41] Israel wants to verify that Hezbollah is [18:42] gone. [18:44] The source said no breakthrough had been [18:45] achieved on the pilot zones adding that [18:47] Beirut intends to propose Zaatar [18:50] al-Sharqia after completing arrangements [18:52] for Zaatar al-Gharbia. Okay, fine. [18:55] Israeli strikes continued overnight and [18:57] throughout Thursday targeting Mansouri, [18:59] Burj al-Shamali, of Haddatha. Lebanese [19:01] army units and rescue teams [19:05] later entered Burj al-Shamali to assess [19:07] the damage. While Lebanon's health [19:09] ministry said eight people had been [19:10] wounded. [19:12] Okay. and [19:14] in terms of who's going to fill out this [19:16] uh this international verification, [19:18] Israel, Lebanon, US, way, who will [19:20] verify Hezbollah disarmament? [19:22] Um then it says the discussions [19:23] concerned which country or countries [19:25] will be responsible for verifying that [19:28] areas entered by the Lebanese armed [19:29] forces [19:30] uh under the pilot of Hezbollah's [19:33] disarmament are free of Hezbollah [19:35] operatives and weapons. [19:37] Italy might be one of those countries. [19:40] On Tuesday, Lebanese army commander [19:41] Rudolph Haikal met with the commander of [19:43] Italy's joint operations command, [19:45] Giovanni Maria Iannucci. Iannucci, they [19:48] discussed the overall situation, recent [19:50] developments, ways to support the [19:52] Lebanese army in light of challenges it [19:53] faces, and the available options for a [19:56] period for the period following the end [19:58] of UNIFIL's mission. At the outset of [20:00] the negotiations, Israel insisted that [20:02] it should be the party authorized to [20:04] enter areas secured by the Lebanese [20:06] armed forces so that it can provide the [20:08] final confirmation they'd been cleared [20:10] of Hezbollah's presence. Following [20:12] strong opposition from the Lebanese [20:13] government, however, Israeli, Lebanese, [20:15] and US officials began discussing which [20:17] country or countries could verify that [20:20] the areas are free of Hezbollah [20:22] personnel and weapons. [20:24] Israel and the US are firmly opposed to [20:26] extending the mandate of the UNIFIL, the [20:28] UN force, which is set to expire at the [20:30] end of this year. They do not want the [20:32] multinational peacekeeping force to be [20:34] responsible for conducting the final [20:36] verification on the ground because [20:38] UNIFIL was there for years and years and [20:39] years, and it ended up basically [20:42] protecting Hezbollah and allowing [20:43] Hezbollah to arm under their nose, and [20:46] they're part of the problem. So, we want [20:48] the UN out of there. Now, but but just [20:50] think about this one point. [20:51] This staunch opposition by the Lebanese [20:54] that Israel [20:55] will [20:57] be the one that verifies that [20:59] Hezbollah's gone before handing it over [21:02] to the Lebanese armed forces. [21:05] Why are they opposed to that? They're [21:06] opposed to that because they don't [21:07] actually want to get rid of Hezbollah. [21:08] You know why? Because they will have a [21:10] civil war on their hands. [21:12] It's not serious. [21:14] Finally, just a couple more points on [21:15] the Lebanon situation. Turkey wants to [21:17] join a new Lebanon security initiative [21:19] after the UN mission ends. I'm not even [21:21] going to read the article. The headline [21:22] says it all. Of course they do. They [21:24] also want to be part of the [21:25] international stabilization force in [21:26] Gaza. Turkey wants to be as on Israel's [21:30] doorstep Turkey wants to be the power [21:33] broker in the entire new situation with [21:36] Iran. With Iran's influence being pushed [21:38] back or taken off the table, they've [21:39] already got Syria after the Assad regime [21:42] that was a proxy of Iran fell. And now [21:45] that Hezbollah is being pushed out, they [21:47] want to be in there. And and in the Gaza [21:49] Strip, they want to be in there. Of [21:51] course Turkey wants to be in there. And [21:53] here's another example of the double [21:55] speak. Lebanese president condemns [21:57] Israeli attacks on Beaufort Castle. Why? [21:59] Who are we attacking? We're attacking [22:01] Hezbollah. You say you want to get rid [22:03] of Hezbollah. We are trying to liberate [22:05] your country. That's not why we're doing [22:06] it. We're doing it to protect ourselves. [22:07] But why would you condemn an Israeli [22:09] attack on Hezbollah infrastructure in [22:11] Beaufort Castle? Okay, there's my [22:13] grandson crying in the background. [22:15] We'll get to that. Bottom line is this [22:17] on the Lebanon situation. Well, all of [22:19] these talks and all of this it's not [22:21] going to go anywhere. So long Israel [22:23] needs to to hold its ground and refuse [22:27] to withdraw from anywhere where there is [22:29] not clear verification that Hezbollah is [22:31] gone. What that means is that Israel's [22:33] going to end up remaining there long [22:35] term. Not because we want to, but [22:37] because Lebanon is not going to do [22:39] anything about Hezbollah. They're not [22:41] going and and that's where things are [22:43] stuck. Okay, so we're going to be [22:45] watching this. I'll keep bringing you [22:46] updates. But that's our situation, [22:48] folks. [22:49] Have a good Shabbat. I'll see you next [22:51] week.
