Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Saturday night denounced the framework agreement with Lebanon as a “disaster whose consequences will be felt for generations.”
While the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization “is at its lowest point since its establishment” in 1982, the deal announced on Friday gives it “exactly the lifeline it has been begging for in the form of a ceasefire,” according to the right-wing minister.
The argument that the Lebanese Armed Forces will dismantle Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon is “a dangerous illusion, at best,” Ben-Gvir, who leads the Otzma Yehudit Party, wrote on X. He added, “The Lebanese Army will not fight Hezbollah. It never has, and it will not start tomorrow.”
The LAF “is weak and infiltrated; Hezbollah members and supporters are an integral part of its ranks,” he continued. “They did not prevent Hezbollah’s military buildup over decades, and nothing will change now. The Hezbollah terrorist organization is also part of the Lebanese government, it is part of the ruling establishment.”
“In 2006, they sold us U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 as a historic achievement that would make Hezbollah disappear from Southern Lebanon. Everyone knew then that it was fake, and we all saw the results,” Ben-Gvir continued.
He said he had opposed the agreement in the Security Cabinet for weeks, arguing that the blood of IDF soldiers killed fighting Hezbollah was “too precious” to give the Iranian proxy time to regroup or to gamble that Beirut would follow up on its commitments.
“You sign agreements only with an enemy you have completely defeated,” he charged. “You do not sign pieces of paper with murderous terrorist organizations; you achieve a clear military victory over them.”
Addressing criticism over his opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies, Ben-Gvir said he had never moderated his views “to please others or to fit in,” adding that he had warned against the government’s approach to Hamas before the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre from the Gaza Strip that sparked the current war.
“The residents of the north deserve to return to their homes with genuine security, not the illusion of security based on paper agreements and empty international promises. I will continue fighting in the Security Cabinet and the government against this bad agreement and in favor of a complete military victory,” he concluded.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who ran on a joint slate with Ben-Gvir in the 2022 election, said the agreement gives the IDF legitimacy to continue neutralizing threats, prevent Hezbollah from rearming and maintain its military presence in Southern Lebanon until the terror group is dismantled.
Addressing IDF reservists in a post on X on Saturday night, the Religious Zionism Party leader said the military “controls a security zone in Lebanon and is continuing to expand the destruction of terrorist infrastructure throughout the area, both above and below ground.” He added, “Hezbollah has not yet been eliminated, but it has been dealt a severe blow.”
“The security and sense of security of residents of northern and southern Israel are immeasurably better than they were on the eve of the war,” the post continued. “Our enemies on all fronts are far weaker, and we are much stronger.”
“Do not pay attention to the frustration and pessimism of the left-wing media and the opposition. They feel compelled to criticize even when there is nothing to criticize, and they are trying to sow despair and gloom for political reasons,” he warned.
Israel, Lebanon and the United States signed a framework agreement on Friday aimed at removing Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon and laying the groundwork for broader political cooperation between Jerusalem and Beirut.
The agreement lays out two pilot zones recommended by the IDF, where the Lebanese Armed Forces would deploy and disarm the Iranian proxy.
Hezbollah renewed its rocket and drone attacks from Southern Lebanon on Israel on March 2, following the targeted killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of “Operation Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28.
In response, Jerusalem launched a broad aerial campaign against Hezbollah targets and expanded military operations in Lebanon aimed at preventing cross-border attacks on Israeli communities.
Following the resumption of hostilities, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun vowed to do “the impossible” to stop cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, and moved to outlaw the Iranian proxy.
Israeli and Lebanese officials subsequently held five rounds of historic direct talks at the U.S. State Department, resulting in the framework of understandings that was reached on Friday and is conditioned on Hezbollah withdrawing from the south.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that Jerusalem had instructed the IDF to prepare for a “prolonged stay” in the security zone in Southern Lebanon.
“The key principle established in the framework is that there will be no Israeli redeployment from Southern Lebanon, no withdrawal whatsoever, as long as the Hezbollah terrorist organization has not been disarmed throughout Lebanon, and the safety of northern residents is guaranteed,” he stated.
