Update (Day 986) Swords of Iron “Thoughts On This Deal”

It seems the comments from the US President have placed Israel in an impossible position, forced to make an impossible choice.

He is clearly tired of what Israel sees as an urgent fight to defend our northern border and protect our people. He seems to think we are not handling Hezbollah quickly enough or carefully enough, and that perhaps Syria should deal with Hezbollah instead.

As in the guy who calls himself “Jolani”, a man once on America’s most-wanted list as an ISIS-linked terrorist? In command of the same forces accused of massacring and humiliating Druze civilians in Suwayda and Jabal al-Druze? And now Israel is supposed to hand them responsibility for dealing with Hezbollah?

Meanwhile, our skies are still filled with rockets. Our soldiers are still dying. Our northern communities yet remain under threat. Is that not enough reason for Israel to defend itself?

For now, Israel says we are staying in southern Lebanon while talks continue. One official put it clearly: we will remain until the threats are eliminated. Iran cannot be allowed to decide the future of Lebanon, and the Lebanese people should not be forced to live under Hezbollah’s boot.

Our diplomatic stance is toughening up as well. When the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, compared Israel to apartheid South Africa, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar broke contact. After everything Israel has endured, we cannot keep accepting slander from those who ignore the terror aimed at us.

Master Sergeant Alexander Filyan, 29, from Haifa, fell in battle today. May his memory be a blessing. Others were injured as well; this is happening every day.

And yet this proposed deal reportedly says Israel must leave Lebanon, when Israel is not even a party to the agreement and was not invited to read the full text.

From what we know of the draft, Iran appears to receive major benefits immediately: ceasefire, end of the naval blockade, free passage through the Strait of Hormuz, permission to export crude oil, and release of frozen assets. Meanwhile, the very issues that caused this crisis—nuclear enrichment, ballistic missiles, and terror proxies—are pushed into indefinite later negotiations.

They get benefits on day one, while the world waits to see whether they will keep their promises. But who will truly verify what happens inside hidden facilities or mountain sites? What stops Iran from rebuilding and rearming?

Maybe the final version will look different. Maybe the reports are incomplete.  

I feels like the West is just surrendering.

Israel must not lose the strategic gains we have made. We must not surrender the buffer zones that protect our communities from invasion. We must keep defending ourselves, no matter what others decide.

Deuteronomy 20:1–4 says: “When you go out to battle… do not be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you.”

That is Israel’s encouragement for what lies ahead.