Appearing on The Jerusalem Post's “Rebuilding the North” broadcast, Amir Avivi, Chairman of Israel’s Defense and Security Forum (Habitchonistim), stated that Israel needs to counter both the Shia axis and the radical Sunni axis by building a Western Israeli-moderate Sunni alliance and normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries such as Indonesia.
Reviewing the war in the North, Avivi said that Israel was able to destroy Hezbollah’s vast rocket arsenal by toppling its leadership, making it incapable of shifting from a war of attrition to a full-scale war. “It will take them many, many years to recuperate,” he said, “and our mission is to make sure it never happens again.”
After Israel destroyed the infrastructure of Hezbollah’s Redwan Force in Lebanon, said Avivi, Israel needs to ensure that that area that was damaged remains a buffer zone.
IDF must have full freedom in Lebanon
Avivi added that the IDF must have full freedom of operation in Lebanon unless the Lebanese army can completely dismantle Hezbollah on its own and enforce UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity, and political independence of Lebanon under “the sole and exclusive authority” of the government of Lebanon.
The major issue that remains, said Avivi, is dealing with Iran. “When Iran will fall,” he concluded, “Hezbollah will probably fall with it. We need to make sure that we build an idea of what is needed to secure Israel for generations to come.”
This article was written in cooperation with Israel’s Defense and Security Forum.