Hezbollah remains the central barrier in israel-lebanon negotiations - opinion

The recent Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington, brokered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have starkly illuminated the central obstacle to any meaningful progress: Hezbollah. While both Israel and Lebanon acknowledge the problem, the Lebanese government is constrained by domestic politics from directly confronting Hezbollah, which it views as integral to its national identity and security. This creates a fundamental 'language gap,' where Israel can name the threat directly, but Lebanon cannot frame the negotiations as a partnership against it without risking its own legitimacy.

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Hezbollah is simultaneously a Lebanese sovereignty problem and an Israeli security threat.

The Jerusalem Post understands that true peace and normalization with Lebanon are desirable regional goals. However, these aspirations are fundamentally unattainable as long as Hezbollah operates as an armed entity with its own command structure, escalation protocols, and a capacity to act independently of the Lebanese state. The core issue is not merely demilitarization, but what we term 'de-sovereignization' – the systematic dismantling of the sovereign functions Hezbollah has usurped from the Lebanese state on its own soil.

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Peace cannot exist with one government when another actor inside the country holds the right to decide on war and peace.

These usurped functions are fourfold: the right to declare war and peace, physical control over southern Lebanon and the border, dominance over financial and smuggling networks, and the provision of state-like services and political representation, particularly within the Shia community. Any agreement that leaves even one of these pillars intact will only result in a temporary pause, not a lasting settlement. The path forward requires robust American backing, not just diplomatically, but operationally, to reinforce Lebanon's state authority, enable a dedicated Lebanese security force in the south, pressure Hezbollah's financial networks, and anchor reconstruction efforts that return essential functions to the legitimate government.

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The objective is not demilitarization in the conventional sense; it is de-sovereignization: the systematic, gradual denial of the sovereign functions Hezbollah currently exercises from Lebanese soil.