Hezbollah's attempts to wreck Beirut-Jerusalem talks failing, experts tell 'Post'

Hezbollah's attacks on the IDF and Lebanese Armed Forces have not derailed talks between Beirut and Jerusalem, even amid Israel's recent strikes on the group, two experts told The Jerusalem Post. Beirut and Jerusalem held talks in Rome last week, with some sessions ending early in response to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon. The talks followed a US-brokered agreement reached in June under which Hezbollah would no longer pose a threat to Israel from southern Lebanon and Israeli forces would completely withdraw. Hezbollah has repeatedly condemned the talks, threatening civil war and urging Lebanese officials to allow the Islamic Republic and its axis to pressure the United States to force Israel to end the war, which was launched by the terrorist organization in response to the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Only two days before the talks began, five members of the Lebanese military were wounded by a Lebanese explosive that Israel attributed to Hezbollah. On Wednesday, Maj. (res.) Harel Birenstock and M.-Sgt. (res.) Tamir Vaknin were killed in a similar explosive incident, and Israel responded to the ceasefire violation with renewed strikes. The situation has undoubtedly created complicated ground for Beirut, Colonel (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman, a lecturer at Shalem College in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and the Vice President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told the Post on Thursday. "I think we are facing a paradoxical situation here because, on the one hand, clearly when violence erupts, it's more difficult for the Lebanese government to carry on a conversation, given that we have wreaked quite a lot of havoc in southern Lebanon, with very good reason. But it's not easy for the Lebanese government to carry on negotiations under these circumstances," he explained. "On the other hand, it's very clear that unless we demonstrate in a very clear and unambiguous way that we are capable of reducing Hezbollah further, then they cannot ultimately stand in the way of a Lebanese government that wants a better future for the Lebanese." David Schenker, a Taube Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, told the Post that Hezbollah's actions amounted to "a lot of background noise," but said he believed Beirut remained committed to moving forward regardless. "Putting aside whether the Lebanese Armed Forces will actually fulfill their obligations, I think the government is committed to moving forward, but it complicates the situation for the Lebanese government, which is already being heavily criticized by its opponents," he said. "The Lebanese Armed Forces are no doubt, I think, hesitant to be kicking down the doors of private Shiite homes in Lebanon," Schenker said. "And yet, we all know that weapons caches are in these homes or underneath these homes, though not all of them." "Real peace is going to be elusive unless the government actually starts establishing a presence. But there is a chicken-and-egg question," he explained. "This is a government that is still in the midst of an economic crisis and will not likely emerge from this crisis until Hezbollah is disarmed."