Lebanon and Hezbollah were only briefly discussed at the meeting on Monday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, but it appears that Israeli and American positions on this issue are identical.
During their meeting, Trump gave Netanyahu approval to take action against Hezbollah and reiterated his position that “Hezbollah must be completely disarmed.”
“If the Lebanese army doesn’t succeed in disarming them, and Israel believes an action is the necessary thing to do [then the US backs Israel],” said Trump, according to a source familiar with the details who spoke to The Jerusalem Post.
Ahead of the meeting with the prime minister, Trump made it clear that “Hezbollah has been behaving badly,” adding that “the Lebanese government is at a little bit of a disadvantage with Hezbollah.”
This public ambiguity appears to have unsettled Hezbollah.
“It is difficult to predict the implications of the meeting between Netanyahu and Trump for Lebanon, but it can be assumed that changes and new developments are expected at the beginning of next year,” wrote Hezbollah’s newspaper Al-Akhbar.
An article in Al-Joumhouria stated that “it appears Trump has given Netanyahu a green light to act.”
Lebanon, Israel, and the United States in security talks
In recent weeks, several meetings have been held by the oversight committee for the ceasefire agreement, which includes senior representatives from Israel, Lebanon, the United States, the United Nations, and France.
Over the past month, civilian representatives from both sides have joined the meetings for the first time. On the Lebanese side, former ambassador to the US Simon Karam joined, while on the Israeli side, the deputy head of the National Security Council, Dr. Yossi Draznin, participated.
The talks are progressing not only on the military front – monitoring the ceasefire – but also in attempts to advance economic projects between the two countries. This is a move strongly encouraged by the US president’s envoy for Lebanon, Morgan Ortagus, along with other senior American officials.
“The meeting was a continuation of the security dialogue aimed at ensuring the disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese Armed Forces. The participants discussed ways to advance economic initiatives to demonstrate the shared interest in removing the Hezbollah threat and to ensure sustainable security for residents on both sides of the border,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated.
Another meeting between the parties is expected next week, focusing on the ceasefire and those economic projects.