Israel conveyed to the United States, through security channels, a message that the “experiment” that began to be implemented in southern Lebanon did not achieve the results it expected, expressing its dissatisfaction with the performance of the Lebanese army in dealing with military structures affiliated with Hezbollah and militants in the region, in an Israeli position that may be reflected in any discussion regarding expanding the scope of the experimental areas in the future.
According to a report by journalist Amir Boukhbout on the Israeli Walla website, Israel informed the United States through security channels that the “Pilot” program in southern Lebanon, which began to be implemented after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Beirut and Israel, according to what was stated in the report, “failed.”
The report indicated that Israel conveyed to the American side information regarding the activity of the Lebanese army, and expressed its dissatisfaction, “at the very least,” with the way it dealt with Hezbollah-affiliated structures and militants in the region.
Israeli security officials said, “The Lebanese army does not destroy military structures based on the coordinates handed over to it by the Israeli army, and at the same time it requests more coordinates, even though it does nothing in this regard.”
According to the report, the Israeli army criticizes the performance of the Lebanese army, claiming that it is not moving effectively against Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon.
In parallel, Israeli estimates indicate that Iran, which previously gave the party significant support, is currently preoccupied with what the report described as its own “survival battles,” and is not rushing to intervene to help it.
The report also quoted senior Israeli army officials as their assessment that the Lebanese Army Commander, General Rudolf Haykal, “continues to cooperate with Hezbollah,” and that he fears entering into a confrontation with the party’s leaders in southern Lebanon, and is not acting effectively in combing operations and finding military structures and weapons.
A senior Israeli security official said: “There is no real friction between the Lebanese army and Hezbollah, which naturally does not want anyone to collect its weapons or destroy its buildings.”
He added: “The Lebanese Army Commander is not making an exceptional effort. There is virtually no enforcement. The Lebanese Army is more concerned with coordination.”
The official explained, “It is clear that Israel is not satisfied, and therefore it is not in a hurry to reach an understanding regarding additional experimental areas.”
The official stopped at one of the field cases on which the Israeli criticism is based, saying: “The Lebanese army arrived at one of the points, entered a few meters into an underground entrance, then turned around and left. It did not dare to enter.”
He added: “We estimate that they will not address anything, even though they insist on obtaining more coordinates.”
Thus, the Israeli message to Washington reveals a growing disagreement over evaluating the performance of the Lebanese army in the south, while Israel links any possible expansion of the experimental areas to field results that it considers have not yet been achieved according to the standards it set.
