With Israel Set To Go for the Jugular Against Iran and Its Proxies, Biden Presses for De-Escalation

As special units of the Israel Defense Force make limited incursion into southern Lebanon, and as the IDF sets its goals beyond just Hezbollah to dealing with other Iranian proxies — and with Tehran itself — President Biden is launching an uphill battle to slow Israel’s momentum in the hope of ever-elusive “de-escalation.” “The war’s next stage will start soon,” Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said Monday. He hinted specifically at a ground operation to eliminate Hezbollah’s assets on Israel’s border, but meanwhile Jerusalem is also operating against other Iranian proxies, known collectively as the “ring of fire.” Israeli jets on Sunday hit targets at Yemen’s Hodeidah port. The long-distance strike followed heavy Houthi missile barrages targeting U.S. Navy assets in the Red Sea, as well as the launch of a cruise missile at Tel Aviv. At the same time, Prime Minister Netanayhu is signaling that beyond the proxies, Israel’s ultimate target is regime change at Tehran.“I know you don’t support the rapists and murderers of Hamas and Hezbollah, but your leaders do,” Mr. Netanyahu said in an English-language videotaped address to Iranians. “The people of Iran should know Israel stands with you. May we together know a future of prosperity and peace.”A former American ambassador at the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, tells the Sun that Mr. Netanyahu has made an “excellent statement.” Writing on X, the former envoy to Iraq and Afghanistan is expressing disappointment that after toppling Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, America failed to take advantage of Tehran’s fear that it “might be next,” and to lean harder on the mullahs, including by demanding they end their pursuit of nuclear weapons.Currently, Mr. Khalilzad writes, Iran “is on edge and uncertain, anticipating the worst.” The next American administration “must be ready on day one with a plan. The opportunity will not last indefinitely.”For now, Mr. Biden instead seems eager to limit any pressure on Iran and its proxies. On Monday, he was asked if he is comfortable with reported IDF movement into Lebanese territory. “I’m comfortable with them stopping,” the president replied. “We should have a cease-fire now.” Israelis are in no mood to cease their successful assault on Hezbollah. For two weeks the IDF has struck and eliminated much of the organization’s command structure. It has also reportedly eliminated up to a half of the terrorist group’s arsenal of missiles, rockets, and drones. Israeli officials indicate that a ground operation in southern Lebanon is inevitable if northern Israelis are to be allowed to return home. To prevent a widened war, Washington and Paris are seeking a diplomatic solution between Israel and the Lebanese government. That latter entity, however, hardly exists: Lebanon is dominated by Hezbollah, which is in disarray following the elimination of its top commanders, including its secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, over the weekend. “At this point there is no one to talk to,” the founder of the Israel-based Alma research center, Sarit Zehavi, tells the Sun. A diplomatic solution, if any, “depends on the depth of the damage to Hezbollah.”On Monday, a deputy to the late Nasrallah, Naim Qassem, posted a videotaped message in which he warned Israel against a ground incursion, something he said Hezbollah “is ready for.” Taped in what seemed like a confined space, the most remarkable part of the message was Mr. Qassem’s constant wiping of a sweaty forehead. America “should help Israel drive Hezbollah to the mat and choke it out and finish it off once and for all,” Senator Cotton told CBS news Sunday. “For the first time in decades, Iran would be exposed on its flanks with no terror proxy capable of devastating Israel or our troops and our friends in the region.”Contrary to that, a former commander of NATO’s forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, advised caution, and seemed to equate America’s closest Mideast ally with an organization that tops the Department of State’s terrorist list. “I would urge both sides, Israel and Hezbollah, to take a look at the far ridge line,” General McChrystal told CBS on Sunday. “I know that’s hard to do, because once you’ve shed this much blood, the emotion runs deep. You kill people’s parents and children and brothers and sisters on both sides.” Violence “is unlikely to produce a good outcome,” General McChrystal added. “The more you press the fight, the harder you go for the jugular, the more you create scar tissue that’s going to last for generations.”The general, who is backing Vice President Harris in the upcoming election, was introduced by CBS as a “surrogate” of the Democratic presidential nominee. His Mideast approach could be influential in Ms. Harris’s White House, if she is elected president in November.

With Israel Set To Go for the Jugular Against Iran and Its Proxies, Biden Presses for De-Escalation

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