Amos Hochstein, deputy assistant to the U.S. president and senior adviser for energy and investment, met with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at his office in Yerushalayim on Monday as the Biden administration attempts to prevent a wider war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A White House official told Reuters that Hochstein was expected to discuss averting further escalation at the Blue Line, the temporary border demarcated by the U.N. in 2000, after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
Joining Hochstein and Netanyahu for the meeting were Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, the prime minister’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman, military secretary Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman and foreign policy adviser Dr. Ophir Falk, and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Israel Stephanie Hallett.
Hochstein will also meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Unity Party leader and former War Cabinet minister Benny Gantz, opposition leader Yair Lapid and President Isaac Herzog before heading to Lebanon.
It is Hochstein’s fourth visit to Israel since Hamas invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, killing, wounding and kidnapping thousands.
In 2022, he mediated a maritime border and natural gas agreement between Israel and Lebanon in a bid to reduce tensions in the north and deter Hezbollah.
The visit comes as the Iranian terrorist proxy has ratcheted up its daily attacks on evacuated Israeli communities near the Lebanese border in recent weeks.
“Hezbollah is jeopardizing the future of Lebanon so that it can be a shield for Hamas,” Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Sunday. “The one that murdered the elderly, raped women, burned children and kidnapped Jews, Muslims and Christians during their massacre on October 7.”
Hezbollah has attacked northern Israel nearly every day since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, killing more than 20 people and causing widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israelis remain internally displaced due to the violence.
Hezbollah has refused to accept a diplomatic solution to the conflict until a ceasefire has been put in place in the Gaza Strip.
“Since deciding to join the war that Hamas started on October 7, Hezbollah has fired over 5,000 rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosive UAVs from Lebanon at Israeli families, homes and communities,” Hagari said.
Hezbollah’s aggression “is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region,” he warned.
According to Hagari, because of Hezbollah’s and Lebanon’s refusal to comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701—which was adopted to end the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and bans terrorist activities south of the Litani River—Jerusalem will take “the necessary measures to protect its civilians until security along our northern border with Lebanon is restored.
“One way or another, we will ensure the safe and secure return of Israelis to their homes in northern Israel. This is not up for negotiation,” he said.
{Matzav.com}
We are getting very stark reminders of the role and significance of “Court Jews”. We are being warned again. The irony is, that the actual incumbents are either totally oblivious, or are firmly Sitra-Akhara.