Israel has stepped up its efforts to convince the US to cut all military assistance to Lebanon, claiming that the weapon systems that are transferred to this country’s armed forces are further transferred to the Hezbollah terror organization that actually controls Lebanon. Iran sees Lebanon as one of its forward bases in the Middle East and Israel is acting to foil further Iran led actions in this country.

A few months ago, in a surprising move the Donald Trump administration had lifted a hold on $105 million in security assistance to Lebanon.

According to US media, Office of Management and Budget Director had previously failed to respond to inquiries from the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the reasons for the Trump administration’s decision to cut off aid.

Maj. General (Ret.) Amos Gilad, told Raksha Anirveda that the US military aid to Lebanon has been a dilemma in recent years. Since the Hezbollah terror organization actually controls the country, the military assistance should be limited to weapons systems that cannot be used against Israel.

Amos Gilead served as Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Israeli Ministry of Defense, as well as Chair of the Security Relations with regional and strategic partners.

In the IDF, he was head of the Military Intelligence Research Division and responsible for the Overall National Intelligence Assessment.

Maj. General (Ret.) Giora Eiland, a former head of the Israeli National Security Council told Raksha Anirveda that the assistance should be given under strict restrictions as “Lebanon is controlled by a terror organization and therefore the US security assistance should not include items that can harm Israel”.

A senior Israeli defense source who talked in condition of anonymity said, “Washington has not realized that the Hezbollah is Iran’s very strong proxy and that supplying weapons to such an organization that actually is calling the shots in Lebanon is sheer stupidity”.

The sources said that among the items that should be excluded from the military aid are anti-tank missiles and UAV.

For quite a long time , the Israeli government has been facing a big dilemma – how to explain to Washington that the military support it grants to the Lebanese army, is actually helping Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy major terror organization, which is actually controlling Lebanon.

In private talk, Israeli officials say that it is very strange that the US administration does not understand that any dollar spent on helping the Lebanese army, actually goes to maintain and increase the power of the Hezbollah.

Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a research associate of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, is considered one of the leading experts on Middle East issues. According to him, Hezbollah controls the country’s presidency meaning Lebanon is under its seize. No president was elected during two years until the candidate was approved by the Hezbollah. It controls the government, the army and everything else.

Dr. Kedar added that countries supporting the Lebanese army, simply ignore this fact and prefer to close their eyes. The same thing happens with Iran when European governments deal with Teheran closing their eyes in order not to see the reality.

Eldad Shavit, a senior researcher in the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) said that there are different approaches to the US military aid to the Lebanese army. The Pentagon more than once said that it is against this aid while the White House is continuing to support it.

In a research paper written by Shavit and a fellow researcher Aaron Kornbluth, they say that in early February 2018, the US administration affirmed that the United States remained committed to the security and stability of Lebanon. In this context, it was emphasized that the weapons and training provided to the Lebanese army are intended to develop its combat abilities in order to maintain it as a national force – a defensive shield against extremist terrorist elements.

 

– The author is an Israel-based freelance writer. He has served in Israel Defense Forces.