U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Egypt when news of the brilliant attack on Hezbollah terrorists through their beepers hit the airwaves. Because Israel hadn’t and still hasn’t claimed responsibility for the audacious maneuver, America’s top diplomat was unable to point blame by name.

Still, he and everybody else in the world was well aware of which country could execute such an elegant operation—one that incapacitated thousands of Iranian-backed serial killers simultaneously across Lebanon—with minimal collateral damage.

Rather than expressing admiration for and awe at the genius of the move, he behaved as though he’d been caught with egg on his face. His ill ease and shame were palpable during his press conference in Cairo; so much so that he began by insisting that “the United States did not know about, nor was involved in, these incidents. We’re still gathering information and gathering the facts.”

He went on to indicate that neither information nor facts would make a difference to the attitude of his administration to the Israeli initiative.

“Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear, and we remain very clear, about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza and see it spread to other fronts,” he asserted. “It’s clearly not in the interest of anyone involved to see that happen. And that’s why, again, it’s imperative that all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict.”

All parties.

This is the verbal mechanism that Blinken and his bosses in Washington have been employing to create immoral equivalence between Israel and the radical Islamist enemies bent on its annihilation since well before the Oct. 7 massacre.

Nor do repeated assurances from the powers-that-be in D.C. that Israel “has the right to defend itself” pass muster; the right to defend oneself is not some privilege granted by a benefactor—it’s a given. In the case of Team Biden, it’s a disingenuous redefinition of the concept reserved for the tribe of which he happens to be a member.

Indeed, every single action on Israel’s part related to threats in and around its borders is and has been defensive, even when retaliatory or pre-emptive. The latter is unacceptable to the current White House and State Department, which seem to take the former to mean rocket interceptions and mad rushes to bomb shelters.

The explosion of the beepers on Tuesday and the walkie-talkies on Wednesday is merely the latest example. Rather than secretly lauding the closest ally of the United States in the Mideast for its amazing ability to think and act outside the box, Blinken and other administration officials, opted to be open about their displeasure.

Meanwhile, the secretary of state made a point of praising other regional actors; and dubious ones, at that.

“Egypt continues to be an indispensable partner in pursuing a ceasefire in Gaza—one that brings the hostages home, that relieves the suffering of the people of Gaza and creates the foundation for an enduring peace,” he said, obfuscating the reality that all suffering in the terrorist enclave is due to Hamas’s rule there since 2007. You know, the organization that has been commandeering all humanitarian-aid trucks filled with goods for the civilian population of the Strip. Its terrorists are stealing the food and other supplies for themselves and selling it to “non-combatant” Gazans at exorbitant prices.

It’s not an issue that seems to concern the international choir accusing Israel of using the starvation of the residents of Gaza as a weapon of war. Blinken never went that far, yet refrains from addressing the issue when urging “both sides” to exercise restraint—to kiss, make up and establish a Palestinian state for an “enduring peace.”

Notice his ongoing failure to mention that Egypt for years has been enabling the smuggling of weapons and construction materials through tunnels connecting the Philadelphi Corridor to Gaza. No wonder Cairo opposed the Israel Defense Forces entering Rafah; its leader didn’t want the men and women in IDF uniforms to discover the size and extent of those passageways. And he’s remained adamant during “negotiations” for a ceasefire-hostage-release deal that Israel maintain no control over the area.  

Nevertheless, Blinken told reporters that he “thanked the president [Abdel Fattah el-Sisi] and the foreign minister [Badr Abdelatty] and other colleagues for Egypt’s commitment to this work. And we discussed the importance of getting this deal across the finish line—something we’ll continue to pursue, along with our Qatari counterparts.”

As though Qatar, which provides a safe haven for Hamas honchos, is some kind of honest broker, rather than a force of evil.

“We all know that a ceasefire is the best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, to address the risks to regional stability—risks that I know are felt viscerally here in Egypt; in particular, the Houthis’ continued attacks on global commerce in the Red Sea, aided and abetted by Iran, are reducing traffic in the Suez Canal. And that’s cost Egypt a projected $5 billion in lost revenue.”

Nice that he’s so worried about Egyptian finances. Amazing that his sole reference to Tehran is in the Houthi context when the Islamic Republic is behind Hamas and Hezbollah.

“We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress over the last month, month and a half,” he said. “There are, I think, in the agreement, eighteen paragraphs; fifteen of them are agreed, but the remaining issues need to be resolved.” In other words, the insurmountable ones.

“The most important thing in this moment is seeing a demonstration of political will to finally conclude this agreement,” he claimed, obviously directing the comment at Israel. Let’s face it: “Political will” isn’t what comes to mind when considering the motives of mass murderer Yahya Sinwar and his rapist executioners.

“And that’s what we discussed,” Blinken expounded. “We also discussed in some detail what would be necessary arrangements if an agreement is finally reached, in terms of the so-called ‘day after’—what happens in Gaza in terms of its governance, its security, its reconstruction. And here, as well. Egypt is and will be a critical partner, and I think we had a very useful conversation about that today, as well.”

Thank God that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t give the likes of Blinken a heads-up about plans to detonate Hezbollah’s communication devices. All Jerusalem would have received in return was a big, fat “don’t.”

Gilad Erdan, who stepped down recently as the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, sees his new job as global president of Magen David Adom as another theater in which to take on the Jewish state’s enemies.

“Over the past four years, I’ve been focused on combating false narratives and upholding the legitimacy of the Israel Defense Forces and our security forces,” he told JNS. “Now, I’m shifting focus to another front of our enemy’s strategy—strengthening Israel’s home front.”

Erdan, who has held several ministerial roles as a member of the Likud Party and who has overseen Israeli first responders, including police, firefighters and emergency services in a role that he compared to the U.S. secretary of homeland security, spoke to JNS at the beginning of the American Friends of Magen David Adom’s gala on Wednesday night at Cipriani 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan.

The actress and activist Debra Messing emceed the event, which drew more than 600 people. It honored Nathaniel Buzolic, better known as Nate Buzz, an Australian actor (“The Vampire Diaries”) and pro-Israel advocate, as well as featured former Miss Israel and former IDF combat medic Noa Cochva.

“MDA is the backbone of Israel’s resilience,” Erdan told JNS. “Knowing that calling 101 will bring the best medical care within seconds strengthens people’s sense of safety and security. That is why it is crucial to ensure MDA is fully equipped and deployed across the entire country. It directly counters our enemy’s strategy to instill fear and terrorize civilians on the home front.”

Overwhelming public response

Philanthropist and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who spoke via pre-recorded video, was recognized at the event for his $44 million donation to Magen David Adom earlier this year.

“After the horrific attacks on Israeli civilians on Oct 7, I felt a strong responsibility to stand with the people of Israel and offer my support during this incredibly challenging time,” he said in the video message.

“When I announced a matching gift for MDA, the public response was overwhelming,” he said. “Together, we raised tens of millions of dollars from more than 30,000 people, all united in condemning terrorism and supporting freedom and democracy.”

Following Bloomberg’s address, Bank of America was recognized for its efforts in combating Jew-hatred and its support of those impacted by the Oct. 7 attacks, including a $2 million donation last year. Aron Levine, chairman of preferred banking at Bank of America, accepted an award and reiterated his support for MDA’s mission of “treating any patient in need, regardless of their religion, race or creed.”

Many of the event’s attendees were new supporters of Magen David Adom, including those who were inspired to get involved after Oct. 7.

“My wife and I were asked to attend, and considering everything that’s happened this past year, it was an easy decision to say ‘yes,’” Ross Zelman, a member of the gala’s host committee, told JNS. 

“Coming here made me think about what it must have been like to be an American during the Holocaust—unsure how to help from so far away,” the White Plains, N.Y., resident said. “But 80 years later, we can be more proactive as Jews and do what’s needed to make a real impact.”

With 35,000 volunteers and employees, MDA is Israel’s national emergency services system, providing emergency treatment and transportation to more than 1 million people annually. 

Wednesday night’s event raised funds to cover expanding MDA’s fleet of ambulances, upgrading equipment and ensuring that the Marcus Blood Center—the world’s first underground, anti-missile blood center—remains fully operational during times of crisis.

A resident of the Bronx, N.Y. told JNS that he was attending an American Friends of Magen David Adom dinner for the first time.

“This year, I thought, ‘If not now, when?’ This is the time to support an organization that’s helping so many people in Israel during these difficult times,” the man said. 

“Whenever there’s an attack in Israel, Magen David Adom and other first responders are the ones on the scene, providing critical help. The least we can do is attend a dinner, contribute a bit, enjoy some good food and do a mitzvah.”

“This was the year to show up and do our part,” he added.

‘Hate motives us to push harder’

Guests enjoyed a dinner with the theme “Israel in New York,” featuring an Israeli-inspired menu, including pulled-lamb baklava and sesame-chicken-schnitzel challah rolls, and music by the popular duo the Shvesters, who performed throughout the night in Yiddish, English and Hebrew.

They also sang a moving rendition of “Eshet Chayil” (“Woman of Valor”) in honor of the late Amit Mann, an MDA paramedic who was murdered while treating the wounded in Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7.

Donor cards presented attendees with the opportunity to support Magen David Adom on various levels, including sponsoring a bulletproof command-and-control vehicle; a basic life-support ambulance; and essential services like breast-milk processing for babies in urgent need and blood-donation drives.

“The climate on social media is tough, but as influencers and activists, the hate we receive motivates us to push harder,” Cochva told JNS. “If there’s still misinformation about Israel, it means we have more work to do.”

“Israel places the value of human life above everything else,” according to Cochva, who was attacked by a protester in New York during an anti-Israel protest in late March. “We do everything possible to save lives—whether they are loved ones, enemies or hostages. People should care about Magen David Adom because they are truly the barrier between life and death for so many.”

The night ended with remarks from Nate Buzz and Erdan.  

“Magen David Adom has a clear purpose, and I hope tonight has inspired us all to support the amazing work they do for the State of Israel,” said Buzz, a self-proclaimed Christian Zionist.

“For the Jewish community gathered here, you have your own challenges to overcome and a powerful purpose to fulfill,” he added. “I believe the best of the Jewish people is yet to come because you are a chosen people, loved and guided by Hashem.”

Erdan told the audience that “by supporting Magen David Adom, you are not just saving lives. You are standing at the front lines of Israel’s defense.” 

“Together, we send a clear message,” he added. “Am Yisrael Chai.” 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) spoke on the Senate floor announcing his intention to file Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to stop the sale of $20 billion in weapons to the Jewish state.

“Resolutions of Disapproval are the only tool Congress has to block arms sales which are inconsistent with established U.S. and international law,” Sanders said in the Wednesday speech. “The Senate will vote on these measures.”

He said that “no matter how people in Washington try to spin it, the simple fact is that we must end our complicity in Israel’s illegal and indiscriminate military campaign, which has caused mass civilian death.”

Mark Mellman, president and CEO of Democratic Majority for Israel, disagreed.

“Senator Sanders’ proposal to block aid to Israel requested by the Biden-Harris administration is deeply misguided, counterproductive, and dangerous, particularly as Israel is actively engaged in a five-front, defensive war,” he said. “Disarming Israel in the midst of a war is not the way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Mellman said the plan “gives Iran and its proxies exactly what they want, and plays into their strategy—to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Israel. Senator Sanders’ approach helps them succeed.”

Pointing to Hamas as preventing a ceasefire, Mellman said that “while war is awful and civilian casualties tragic, Hamas bears responsibility for them. Military experts say Israel has done more than any other country to prevent civilian casualties and is acting lawfully.”

Mellman said the senator’s resolution “ignores American opinion.” He said “recent polling demonstrates that only 23% of voters nationally want security assistance decreased from current levels, while 60% want it increased or kept the same, and 17% offer no opinion.”

Following the introduction of the resolution, Senate rules would enable Sanders to force a vote almost immediately.

The Iranian war of extermination against Israel continues to be a clarifying moment for the supposedly civilized world. As this crisis continues, it is remorselessly spotlighting those who stand against such evil and those who are shamefully siding with it.

Israel’s astounding feat this week in killing or disabling thousands of senior Hezbollah operatives by causing their pagers and walkie-talkie radios to explode has sent its Western enemies into a frenzy. Anti-Israel activists and the media have been falling over each other to claim that the attack indiscriminately endangered and killed innocent civilians and amounted to a reckless escalation of the war.

In fact, never in the history of warfare has there been a more precisely targeted attack against enemy combatants. The explosive devices had only been distributed to senior Hezbollah operatives. The small amount of explosive inside was designed to hurt only the carriers.

The number of civilian casualties was accordingly extremely small. All such casualties are regrettable. But those accusing Israel of recklessly endangering civilians and escalating the war fail to acknowledge the difference between deliberately aiming to kill civilians and inadvertently causing civilian casualties in a just war of defense.

They fail to register the dozens of Hezbollah missiles and rockets that Hezbollah is firing every day to kill Israelis. They fail to refer to the 12 Druze children and young people killed by such an attack in July on Majdal Shams. They fail to note that Hezbollah has been increasingly widening its target range ever more deeply into Israel.

Escalation, it seems, is a one-way street. It never applies to attacks on Israel, only to Israel when it defends itself.

The Biden administration continues to play a double game. Ever since the Oct. 7 pogrom, it has pressured Israel not to take the steps needed to defeat Hamas, stop Hezbollah and neutralize Iran. That pressure has become frenzied in recent days as Israel has signaled it may have no alternative but to clear Hezbollah out of Southern Lebanon altogether.

But at least the United States voted against the appalling resolution passed by the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday—by 124-14 with 43 abstentions—demanding that Israel should end “its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within 12 months.

The text of the resolution was based on the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in July that Israel’s “occupation of Palestinian territory” was illegal. But the ICJ is a kangaroo court, relying for its “evidence” entirely on falsehoods propagated by those who want to see the Jewish state destroyed.

That includes the United Nations itself, which is institutionally programmed for Israel’s destruction by singling it out for a campaign of lies, bullying, harassment, discrimination and demonization that it deploys against no other country in the world.

This world body is morally bankrupt. So, too, is the British government, which couldn’t bring itself to vote against a resolution demanding Israel’s withdrawal to the 1948 ceasefire lines—dubbed by Israeli statesman Abba Eban “Auschwitz borders” because their indefensibility would guarantee Israel’s extermination—but instead abstained.

The British government has long misrepresented international law by falsely declaring Israel to be in “illegal occupation” of the “Palestinian territories,” which have never existed in law or history.

The new Labour Party government under Sir Keir Starmer, now prime minister of the United Kingdom, has ramped up hostility towards Israel by repeating the falsehoods and blood libels being promoted by the international “humanitarian” establishment led by the Hamas-supporting United Nations; endorsed the request by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for warrants to arrest Israel’s prime minister and defense minister, despite the prosecutor’s arguments resting entirely on malicious falsehoods; restored funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) despite overwhelming evidence that it is an adjunct of Hamas; and introduced a partial arms embargo against Israel when it is fighting for its life against an eight-front war of extermination led by Iran.

So the fact that Britain didn’t oppose this vicious U.N. resolution is hardly surprising. What’s even more despicable is that it didn’t have the spine to vote in favor of it, and thus openly revealed this so-called ally of Israel to have become in practice its enemy.

This hostility is now so bad that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a rare public rebuke this week in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mail. He accused Starmer of being “misguided,” sending a “horrible message” to Hamas by partially suspending arms supplies to Israel and undermining its ability to defend itself.

But Britain no longer seems interested in fighting just wars at all. In a speech this week, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said climate change was the “most profound and universal source of global disorder” and more “fundamental” than either terrorism or an “imperialist autocrat”—an apparent reference to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

Many people in Britain are nauseatingly voicing sympathy for the Hezbollah operatives killed or maimed in the exploding pager and radio attacks. This is hardly surprising since the all-important BBC has been framing these attacks as indiscriminate, illegal and a lurch towards a regional war that the media behemoth appears not to have noticed has been underway for the past 11 months.

On the BBC World Service, reporter Orla Guerin misleadingly described “nightmarish” explosions in Lebanon’s “food markets, homes and restaurants” with casualties streaming to hospitals, as if those hurt were all innocent civilians rather than the vast majority being Hezbollah men.

Daniel Levy, the far-left son of the prominent British Jewish philanthropist and Labour Party fundraiser Lord Levy, told the BBC: “This is a new type of warfare. We see mass maimings. This has clearly hit civilians. It feels like a textbook definition of terrorizing people.”

This felt like a textbook definition of an anti-Israel Jew who was maiming his own people with lies framed to destroy their homeland.

On the BBC’s flagship radio program Today, Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, head of the Israel Defense and Security Forum of senior Israeli military and intelligence experts, was a rare voice defending Israel.

Avivi said that if Hezbollah retreated according to U.N. resolution 1701 and stopped firing at Israel, that would be the end of it; otherwise, if the 60,000 families displaced from their homes in northern Israel were ever to be able to return, Israel would have no choice but to invade Lebanon and destroy Hezbollah.

After he left the show, both the presenter Nick Robinson and the U.K.’s former ambassador to Lebanon, Tom Fletcher, agreed that Avivi was a “hardliner" who made them nervous.

To the BBC and much of the progressive world, the unequivocal determination to defend Israel by defeating its enemies who threaten genocide against it is to be “hard-line”. This is because the left-wing BBC and the rest of the progressive world believe themselves to embody centrist values.

For similar reasons, last week’s monumental report by the Tel Aviv-based British lawyer Trevor Asserson, which identified 1,553 breaches of the BBC’s own guidelines on impartiality and accuracy in four months of Israel war reporting, was dismissed by the BBC as “biased” and methodologically unsound. The BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen, whose egregious hostility to Israel merited an entire section to himself in the Asserson report, dismissed it all as “a smear.”

However, as the Jewish Chronicle reported this week, Bowen proceeded to prove the truth of Asserson’s central complaint by saying, during a closed-doors BBC “masterclass” on reporting war impartially, that Hamas was a “good” source of information on Gaza casualty figures.

Yet statisticians and others have shown that the Hamas figures are grossly exaggerated, ludicrously failing to acknowledge a single terrorist among the total of Gazans who have been killed—all of whom it claims were civilians.

This is a seismic battle of civilization against barbarism, victim against oppressor, truth against lies. Lonely Israel is leading the great fight of good against evil, while the so-called civilized world no longer knows what side it’s on.

First place in the Jewish Youth for Unity: Rosh Hashanah poster contest went to a colorful table filled with fruit featuring a bee buzzing above an apple coated with honey and the phrase, “May your year be sweeter than a honey-dipped apple!”

BBYO announced the three winners with Nathan Kamp from North Holland in the Netherlands coming out on top and earning a $5,000 grant with “Honey-Dipped Hopes.” His work will appear in high schools and institutions across the country.

Second- and third-place winners, respectively, were Gabrielle Levine and Alexandra Sinrich, who also offered vibrant images of plants, apples and pomegranates.

“I hope to convey the beauty of this holiday but also highlight how much the Jewish people have prevailed through a year full of hardship,” Sinrich said.

“I joined this contest because I wanted to share the warmth and joy of Rosh Hashanah in a way that can connect with people from all walks of life,” Kamp said. “My goal was to create something that feels welcoming and uplifting, just like the spirit of the Jewish New Year.”

College students have started the fall semester on North American campuses. Does that mean a return to the type of antisemitism witnessed during the last academic year?

“The Quad” is here to discuss it with special guests Columbia University professor Shai Davidai, Arab Zionist Rawan Osman and Alyza D. Lewin, president of the Brandeis Center for Human Rights and the person responsible for suing Ben & Jerry’s over its boycott of selling ice-cream to eastern Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria.

And, of course, they reveal the Scumbags and Heroes of the Week!

The terrible events of Oct. 7 have profoundly altered my perception of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the future of Gaza and the West Bank. My journey from a young immigrant in Israel, through my years as an army officer in Gaza, to an Israeli businessman in the West Bank and Gaza has been marked by a deep and personal connection to the region and its people. Yet the brutality I witnessed on Oct. 7 has left me grappling with a complex mix of feelings and uncertainty about the best path forward for my country, my people and the Palestinian people.

As a child of Holocaust survivors who arrived in Israel from the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s, Gaza always felt like a familiar place to me, not a foreign land. My family and I made daily trips there to shop and visit the local markets. This shaped my worldview, giving me a sense of connection and empathy towards the people I interacted with every day. My early career saw me transition from an infantry officer to a civil administration officer, where I was tasked with providing essential services to Gaza residents under Israeli rule. From 1988 to 1994, I witnessed not only the challenges but also the potential in the region.

During those years, we worked to improve Gaza’s infrastructure, education system and economy. Over time, those efforts felt less like bureaucratic obligations as I became driven by a personal commitment to ensuring the welfare of Gaza’s residents. I developed real friendships and a deep respect for the people I worked with. My emotional bond was so strong that even after 1994, I continued to visit Gaza each year to celebrate the birthday of a Palestinian child who was named after me—a testament to the enduring connections formed during my service.

However, the outbreak of the Second Intifada in September of 2000 brought a marked shift. Many of the Palestinian soldiers I had once called friends suddenly became adversaries, and the coup led by Hamas in 2007 signaled a troubling turn in Gaza’s trajectory. The subsequent violence, including internal strife between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority’s Fatah Party, unveiled a darker side of the experience. I had seen glimpses of brutality before, but the extreme violence that followed was a stark reminder of the deep-seated tensions between the two ruling sectors.

So the massacre of Oct. 7 came as an incredible shock. The scale of the atrocities committed by Gazans against Israelis was unprecedented and sent shockwaves through Israel. It was not just radicals and Hamas militants; I saw ordinary people participate in these horrific acts. This revelation felt like a personal betrayal of the relationship and bonds I had with Gaza and its people. It took me three months to respond to the calls I received from people there I used to work with; the sense of connection I once felt has been overtaken by disillusionment.

This feeling was widely shared throughout Israel. A poll released by the Council for a Secure America found that 65% of Jewish Israelis now oppose a two-state solution and that nearly half (44%) have moved toward opposition as a direct result of the Oct. 7 massacre.

Despite the grim reality of the current situation, I believe there is still hope for the future. A two-state solution—a change from the de facto three-state situation that currently exists—still has potential, but it has a long road to travel. As a businessman and pragmatist, I believe that re-establishing commerce and constructing new infrastructure could play a crucial role in bridging the divide, rebuilding trust, as well as fostering cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians.

While the terrible events of Oct. 7 have caused deep scars, we cannot live in a state of hatred or anger forever. While the brutality inflicted upon our children and women has strained my capacity for forgiveness, I am hopeful that, in time, healing can begin. By focusing on the shared goals of providing the best possible lives for our two populations, there is a possibility to rebuild relationships and move towards a more peaceful and prosperous future.

Hezbollah suffered an unparalleled defeat, the Lebanese terrorist group's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged on Thursday, saying that the alleged Israeli attacks using its communication devices amounted to a declaration of war.

"There is no doubt that we have been subjected to a major security and humanitarian blow, unprecedented in the history of our resistance and perhaps in the history of the conflict with the enemy," the Iranian-backed Islamist said in a televised address, adding that there is "no doubt" that Hezbollah has been breached by Israeli intelligence.

"We know that the enemy has superiority on the technological level because it has American and NATO support," he said.

As Nasrallah spoke from his bunker, Israeli jets broke the sound barrier over Beirut, with the BBC reporting "huge sonic booms" in the capital.

According to the Hezbollah chief, Israel "crossed all red lines" by targeting terrorist operatives in the attacks that saw thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

"This blow, no matter how big or strong, cannot break us. I can assure you faithfully and with confidence: This hard, unprecedented blow did not bring us to our knees—and it will not," Nasrallah vowed.

"Can you return the displaced [Israeli civilians] to the north [the Upper Galilee]? We accept this challenge, but you will not be able to return them," the terrorist leader said, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly. "What you are doing will increase the displacement of your displaced settlers from the north and will cancel the opportunity for their return."

‘The price must be high’

Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are "leading their entity into a destructive abyss and a third historic humiliation," said Nasrallah, referencing the destruction of the Jewish Temples in Jerusalem in 586 BCE and 70 C.E.

Hezbollah's cross-border attacks on the Jewish state will continue, "no matter the consequences," until Israel Defense Forces troops leave the Gaza Strip and end the campaign against Hamas terrorists, he said.

Regarding a possible Israeli ground operation in Southern Lebanon, the Hezbollah chief declared that "if they come to us, they are welcome, and we will consider this threat a historic opportunity that we hope for.

"The [IDF] commander of the northern region [OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin], a fool, proposed creating a buffer zone [in Lebanon]," Nasrallah said. "If you think you're building a security belt around the resistance and you think you're limiting the fighting to this zone, your military centers will be targeted in the north of occupied Palestine [northern Israel] and even further!"

On Tuesday, 3,000-plus Hezbollah operatives were wounded and at least 34 were killed when their pagers exploded, with the Lebanese terrorist group immediately blaming the Jewish state.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the two waves of explosions—the first of which came hours after the Israeli Cabinet added the return of citizens displaced from their homes in the north to the country's war goals, bringing a major clash with Hezbollah closer.

Hezbollah has attacked Israel nearly daily since Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones. The attacks have killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of civilians remain internally displaced due to the violence.

A U.S. official told ABC News on Tuesday that Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons will likely retaliate against Israel for the pager attacks, but "it could take them time to do so while they assess what happened."

Israeli security officials also believe that Hezbollah is preparing for a large-scale assault in response to the attack attributed to Jerusalem, the Israeli Kan News public broadcaster reported on Tuesday night.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Wednesday night approved "attack and defense plans for the north," the army said.

"We still have many capabilities that we have not yet activated—I repeat, we have not yet activated. We saw some of these things here," Halevi said in remarks made at IDF Northern Command headquarters in Safed.

"The rule is that every time we work on a certain stage, the next two stages are already ready to advance. At each stage, the price for Hezbollah must be high," the Israeli army chief said.

Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz famously said, “War is politics by other means” or what one cannot achieve through diplomacy, one may gain via bargaining power and through military action. To prevent war, it is important to show that diplomatically and militarily war will lead not just to a military loss, but a political and diplomatic loss as well.  

Unfortunately, the Biden-Harris administration’s diplomatic efforts as it relates to Hezbollah and Lebanon have led to the current situation in the north of Israel, including the displacement of more than 60,000 Israelis. The administration appointed Amos Hochstein as its envoy to negotiate with Israel and Lebanon. 

Hezbollah first took advantage of Hochstein’s inexperience by threatening to attack Israel’s gas reserves off the coast of Northern Israel. In late 2022, Hochstein got then-Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and his Defense Minister Benny Gantz to capitulate to Hezbollah’s demand that Israel give in to Lebanon’s claims on the maritime border, even though those claims had previously been rejected by Israel’s previous prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and by the Trump administration. Washington hoped that appeasement by Israel would lead to peace in the area and provide a massive financial gain that would greatly enrich Lebanon.

However, such a financial win would enrich Iran’s terror proxy Hezbollah. The idea that any financial enrichment of Lebanon is good for peace while Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, controls the country is itself patently absurd, yet this is the view held by Hochstein. Despite being given everything it asked for in 2022, Hezbollah recently breached the agreement when it sent four drones towards Israel’s Karish energy platform in the Mediterranean, all of which were intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces, reported The Times of Israel.  

Hezbollah learned in 2022 that with Hochstein negotiating on behalf of Washington if it attacked Israel it would benefit diplomatically. In an interview with the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, Hochstein said that even if the efforts didn’t lead to peace between Hezbollah and Israel, but led to “a set of understandings” that would “take away some of the impetus for conflict and establish for the first time ever a recognized border between the two, I think that will go a long way.”

The problem with his viewpoint is that Israel and Lebanon already agreed on their land border, in 2006, when the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved the  U.N. Resolution 1701 (which was recently renewed by the U.N. Security Council) as part of a deal to end the Second Lebanon War.

The Lebanese cabinet unanimously approved the resolution on Aug. 12, 2006. On the same day, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that his militia would honor the call for a ceasefire. He also said that once the Israeli offensive stops, Hezbollah's rocket attacks on Israel would stop. A day later, on Aug. 13, the Israeli Cabinet voted 24-0 in favor of the U.N. resolution, with one abstention. The ceasefire began on Aug. 14.

As part of the agreement, Hezbollah’s forces were to stay north of the Litani River, located 18 miles from the Israel border, but that is not the case. Instead of punishing them for violating U.N. Resolution 1701 and using their proximity to launch a war against Israel on Oct. 8, Hochstein is trying to negotiate a deal with Hezbollah that would give them land the United Nations said in 2006 is part of Israel, even though the 2022 agreement was violated by Hezbollah.  

It has been reported recently that Hochstein proposed that Hezbollah be given parts of Israeli sovereign territory that the terror group now claims, despite the United Nations ruling it as part of Israel. Hochstein reportedly proposed that Hezbollah move just six miles from the Israeli border and retain a militarily beneficial high ground in the westernmost border point of the Blue Line, overlooking the Israeli town of Rosh Hanikra. The U.S. envoy proposed that this area be recognized as part of Lebanon and that U.N. forces be deployed in the area. 

However, there is already a U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in Lebanon, one that has done absolutely nothing to stop Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel. The bottom line is that Hochstein’s outrageous proposals are just rewards for Hezbollah in its war against Israel and will encourage the terror group to continue its actions assuming that Hochstein is likely to propose even more concessions by Israel.  

Hezbollah launched an unprovoked war on Israel on Oct. 8 because its leaders believed that they would be diplomatically rewarded by both Hochstein and the Biden administration to ensure peace between the two entities.

Bad diplomacy leads to war, and Washington’s diplomatic efforts thus far have encouraged Hezbollah to keep fighting because they are obtaining U.S. support for their invalid land claims in the process. 

Good diplomacy punishes those who go to war, and it is time for the Biden-Harris administration to remove Hochstein and change its diplomatic policy to one that supports Israel’s war strategy and returns peace to the north not through Israeli-land concessions, but by rejecting Hezbollah’s land claims. It needs to be made clear to Hezbollah that there will be no diplomatic gain in its war against Israel.