Israel must respond forcefully to Hezbollah aggression

Amos Hochstein, the U.S. special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security, arrived in Israel on Tuesday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi.

Briefing Netanyahu on U.S. efforts to mediate a formal normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia was the official reason for the visit. But it became clear that was not the aim, after President Joe Biden told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday that Washington opposes Saudi conditions for such a deal, namely a U.S. guarantee of Saudi security and U.S.-Saudi joint civilian nuclear energy development.

Hochstein’s trip was really about discussing the situation on Israel’s land border with Lebanon, which Iran controls through Hezbollah. Last year, Hochstein was the Biden administration’s point man for forcing Israel’s caretaker government to surrender to all of Hezbollah’s demands about the Israel-Lebanon maritime border on the eve of the Nov. 1, 2022 Knesset elections.

Hezbollah’s financial and military extortion enabled the deal Hochstein forced down Israel’s throat. In July 2022, Hezbollah launched four drones at Israel’s Karish gas platform, which was scheduled to go online two months later.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened to destroy the gas platform if Israel began pumping gas out of Karish without first surrendering to Hezbollah demands about the Qana gas platform, partially located in Israeli territorial and economic waters.