Officials in US President Joseph Biden's administration worry that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may start a war against Lebanon's Hezbollah to consolidate his position in the country and save his political career, the Washington Post reported.
Netanyahu's popularity has declined since the start of the war with the Palestinian Hamas, as the public places much of the blame for the failures that allowed the attacks by Palestinian extremists on him.
Many senior Israeli officials have repeatedly said that Hezbollah must be pushed from the Israeli-Lebanese border in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701 from 2006, pledging to achieve this militarily, if not diplomatically.
The American newspaper cited more than a dozen unnamed Biden administration officials and diplomats in a news report stating that two high-ranking envoys, Amos Hochstein and the US Secretary of State, were sent to Israel to prevent a war between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah.
The report also states that the tension between Israel and the US has increased in part because the Israeli army has allegedly hit points belonging to the Lebanese armed forces, which are supported by the US, 34 times.
A member of Israel's war cabinet and former Chief of General Staff, Benny Gantz, however, seems to have tried to defend Netanyahu from the Washington Post report and announced on Platform X that the only thing being discussed was "about Israel's security and nothing else", and that it is the duty of officials towards the country and its citizens.
Gantz stated that the world must know that Hezbollah initiated the escalation and that Israel is interested in a diplomatic solution, but that if there is none, "Israel and the Israeli army will remove the threat", and that all members of the war cabinet share that position.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, meanwhile, at the beginning of today's cabinet session, warned Hezbollah after the escalation of cross-border conflicts over the weekend, Israeli media reported.
"I suggest that the terrorist organization Hezbollah learn the lesson that Hamas has already learned in the past months, that no terrorist is immune. We are determined to protect our citizens and return the residents of the north safely to their homes. This is our national goal," Netanyahu said. referring to the citizens of Israel who were evacuated from the north of the country due to the almost daily cross-border conflicts.
Bonus video:
