Efraim Inbar: Hezbollah has long-range missiles, Israel must strike
June 28, 2024
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Israel should launch a preemptive strike against Hezbollah, Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies (JISS) think tank, told Zvika Klein on the Jerusalem Post podcast, pointing out that the Lebanese terror group still keeps some of its most devastating weapons, its long-range missiles, in reserve.
He explained that they already had significantly advanced capabilities and that Israel’s current strategy of waiting and containing the threat meant that “we are allowing Hezbollah to upgrade (and) improve its targeting. And I think that is an intolerable situation.”
Inbar further pointed out that despite Israel’s current main goal of helping evacuees from the north return home, it has still not made any attempt to expel Hezbollah, which he said continues to wage a war of attrition against the Jewish state.
“Hezbollah is currently waging a war of attrition. And since we are busy in the south, in Gaza, we have decided that the northern front is secondary and we will not respond more forcefully to put an end to Hezbollah’s activities,” he explained.
There were calls from local Lebanese organizations to de-escalate the situation in the north, but these efforts had little effect.
“The only actor in charge in Lebanon is Hezbollah, and it doesn’t pay attention to what’s happening in the rest of the country,” Inbar said.
Moreover, Hezbollah has not yet laid all its cards on the table. When Klein asked whether the Lebanese terror group had anything in reserve to respond to an Israeli attack, Inbar replied: “We have not seen the long-range missiles yet,” adding: “If we go to war with Hezbollah, we will definitely see those missiles being fired.”
Nevertheless, Inbar said Israel had not underestimated Hezbollah. Rather, “I think we had the wrong impression that we would deter them, the same misunderstanding as with Hamas.
Should Israel wait for a diplomatic solution?
Klein and Inbar both stressed that Israel needs international support if it attacks Hezbollah. However, the JISS president also said that there are certain situations in which Israel must act independently.
“We should know that the world is on our side if we succeed,” he said. “That is the less advisable solution and that is why we should pay attention to what the Americans and the French are doing today, but we should not wait. Because they do not want escalation… they want calm.”
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