Iran, having predictably identified what it sees as the unimaginable weakness of the Trump administration, is now attempting to pressure the United States into forcing Israel to withdraw completely from Lebanon.

On the surface, Iran’s objective is to secure a strategic victory by driving Israel out of Lebanon. In reality, however, the ambition is far greater. The Iranians understand that an IDF withdrawal from Lebanon could lead to the abandonment of northern Israeli communities and, for the first time in history, the de facto loss of territory within Israel’s 1948 borders.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is now facing one of the greatest leadership tests of his career. He must stand firm against President Trump and the United States and prevent an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon at all costs, because the alternative carries the potential for a historic disaster whose consequences are impossible to predict.

(Tamir Morag)