Israel says fuck you America!
Netanyahu: Israel will 'keep the security zone in Lebanon as long as is necessary to protect our people'
Speaking as US-Iran nuclear talks opened in Switzerland, the Israeli prime minister said Iran will never obtain nuclear weapons under his leadership, while officials signaled no planned withdrawal from southern Lebanon amid regional tensions
"We established a security zone in Lebanon. And we shall keep it as long as is necessary to protect our people,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening as talks between the United States and Iran opened in Switzerland, while Tehran reported they had been “halted due to Trump’s threat.” Netanyahu added at the JNS International Policy Summit that “no matter what happens in the talks, with an agreement or without an agreement, Iran will never have nuclear weapons as long as I am prime minister of Israel.”
The working assumption in Jerusalem is that there is no viability for a deal between the countries because the gaps are too wide. However, Israel does not intend to interfere. Israel was not surprised by the exchange of threats between the U.S. president and the Iranians, but officials in Jerusalem do not believe it will cause the talks to collapse because Iran has too much to lose.
Israel is not willing to carry out withdrawals from Lebanon due to American pressure. However, there is preparation for possible changes and adjustments to the Israel Defense Forces’ presence in southern Lebanon, not as a concession to pressure but in order not to endanger troops. In closed-door discussions, Netanyahu said Israel will preserve operational freedom in southern Lebanon to protect the security of northern residents and to avoid placing soldiers in harm’s way.
A security official addressed the IDF presence along the “yellow line” in southern Lebanon on Sunday evening, saying that “the IDF will remain there as long as there is no peace agreement, for the security of the communities. There will be no withdrawal.”
Another Israeli source said that “there is no American demand for a small or large withdrawal. Since the last round, we have been talking about ‘pilot’ areas where the Lebanese army will be able to demonstrate its ability to make the area free of Hezbollah. This is one of the issues that will be discussed this week in the negotiations that begin Tuesday.” According to the source, “we are supposed to lay out maps and discuss implementation. The pilot will be accompanied by the United States to ensure the Lebanese army succeeds in its mission.”
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s LBCI network reported that “Lebanon was informed by the American side that Israel will carry out limited withdrawals from southern Lebanon as a goodwill gesture ahead of the round of negotiations between the countries on Tuesday.”
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In his remarks Sunday evening, Netanyahu said: "Can you imagine the United States across the border, you have an army of thousands of terrorists who pellet your cities and your town with rockets and ballistic missiles and killer drones. They kill your soldiers, they kill your citizens, they kill your children. And they threaten them every day. Well, what would America do? Would it say, well, there's nothing we can do? Let's hold our fire? Is that what America would say? No?
“You know damn well what America would do. It would cross the border, create a security zone, kill the terrorists and protect its people until the threat is removed,” he said. “That’s exactly what we are doing.
“We target the terrorists, but there are some civilian casualties in every such war, in every such urban warfare," he continued. "And normally the ratio of combatants to non-combatants killed, non combatants to combatants killed is about 7 to 1, 8 to 1. In Gaza it was much much lower than that, despite all the lies and vilifications aimed at Israel. But I asked our people, our research arm in the Defense Ministry. I said, what is the ratio in Lebanon? And they said to me, today, I just got the document today. Prime Minister, it's 5 to 1. No, not 5 civilians killed for every terrorist, 5 terrorists killed for every civilian that is harmed in the process. 5 to 1. Unheard of. Because no army goes to such lengths like the Israeli army to target terrorists and minimize civilian casualties. We should be commended for it, not condemned. ”
Netanyahu added that “we don't have a war with Lebanon. We have a war with Hezbollah who terrorizes Lebanon and seeks our destruction. And when that proxy of iran is no longer a threat, whether it's dismantled or disarmed, yes, we'll have peace with Lebanon and I look forward to signing it.”
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