As follow-up talks are set to begin after a U.S.-Iran end-of-war agreement and the Lebanon issue emerges as a key sticking point, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Israel will not withdraw from Lebanon unless Hezbollah is disarmed.
Minister Smotrich said in an interview with the conservative outlet Makor Rishon on the 20th (local time) that "the military will be stationed for years in a security zone in Lebanon."
Asked about the possibility of a long-term Israel Defense Forces deployment in Lebanon, Smotrich said "yes," adding, "I say this as a party to discussions on running the defense budget for the next 10 years."
Pressed on whether Israel should set up military posts and bases in the southern Lebanon security zone, Minister Smotrich stressed, "Everything must be built out completely." He added, "We will stay there until Hezbollah is disarmed, and after that as well to secure a defensible border."
He drew a line at the possibility that the United States might explicitly demand an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. "The United States understands our red line and will not make such a demand," he said. "We will not move even 1 mm until Hezbollah is disarmed." He added, "This is the position of the prime minister, the defense minister and me," noting, "We have a firm will to stick to it."
Minister Smotrich also took issue with the historical background of today's Middle East borders. He argued that the borders set by the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France are illogical lines that did not account for terrain and realities on the ground.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement was a secret deal struck during World War I to divide the Middle East, then under Ottoman rule, between Britain and France. Under the agreement, borders were formed across what are now Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, but it has drawn criticism for failing to sufficiently reflect the historical backgrounds of ethnicities, sects and tribes.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah and Iran, which backs it, argue that the Israel Defense Forces must withdraw from Lebanon based on a U.S.-Iran end-of-war memorandum of understanding that stipulates "the end of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon." Israel says the memorandum does not bind the country, and mutual attacks justified as cease-fire violations have continued between Israel and Hezbollah even after the memorandum was signed.