Israeli ambassador: We are helping the Lebanese government assert its sovereignty in confronting Hezbollah.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 14 that “there is an unacceptable gap between what we hear from the Lebanese government, which sends representatives to talks in Washington and speaks about substantive and important matters, and the capabilities on the ground, and we cannot rely on anyone other than the Israeli army.

This is the reality: not UNIFIL, nor the international forces, nor the European forces, nor even the forces of the Lebanese government; they are simply incapable of doing anything.

The only party ultimately capable of pushing Hezbollah away is the Israeli army. We must acknowledge this fact, and we are making this clear to our friends in the United States.”

Danon added, in response to a question about the timing of a complete halt to military operations: “That decision ultimately belongs to the Israeli government, to determine whether we will expand and intensify the operations. At present, we have a strong and substantial military presence in terms of troop numbers, and we are active in that area. We must realize that, in the end, there will be no calm in Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains present on the ground there. In fact, we are helping the Lebanese government, which accuses us of occupying land in Lebanon, and I say to them: excuse me, we are helping the Lebanese government do what it has not done to this day, which is to fight for its sovereignty, in the hope that a day will come when they will have actual sovereignty there.”