Invading Lebanon Won’t Bring the Victory Israel Needs
The death of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah creates opportunities for more war or for transformation. Netanyahu should choose the latter.
Smoke plumes billow following Israeli bombardment on south Lebanon.
Photographer: MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP“We are winning,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a defiant yet surreal speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, delivered shortly after ordering a massive air strike to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. In military terms, that’s hard to argue with.
Nasrallah, who was confirmed dead on Saturday, led an Iran-backed organization that exists primarily to fight Israel. On Oct. 8 last year, he had given his own fateful order, which was to support Hamas as it faced retribution in Gaza for its savage terrorist attack on Israel the day before. The rocket salvoes fired from Lebanon were limited, but they were acts of war that made Hezbollah and its leader legitimate targets.