The Democrats leader Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yair Golan said he was issuing a “severe warning” to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that Israel lacks a political strategy for Lebanon and continued reliance on military action alone puts Israel at risk.
The left-wing party leader made the remarks at the northern border, speaking alongside Maj.-Gen. (res.) Nimrod Sheffer, where the two outlined their strategic approaches.
Other opposition politicians have also called for increased diplomatic efforts with Lebanon in recent days.
“A deep military maneuver inside Lebanon, without a clear political objective, will drag Israel back into the Lebanese mud, and will not bring real security to northern communities,” Golan stated.
Golan said that he had extensive knowledge of the northern area, based on his experience serving as head of the Northern Command, commander of the 91st “Galilee” Division, and commander of the northern sector of the security zone.
“This is where I fought and was wounded. I have seen up close the heavy price of war, both as a soldier and as a commander,” he said.
As part of Golan’s strategy, he warned against continuing a military campaign without working on a diplomatic solution.
“The professional truth is clear to anyone who has managed military campaigns: Military force is a means, not an end. Its role is to create conditions on the ground, and those conditions must immediately be leveraged into a political process,” Golan said.
“Fighting and maintaining a buffer zone without a political horizon will not eliminate Hezbollah. On the contrary, it may strengthen its narrative as the ‘defender of Lebanon,’” he added.
Golan: Hezbollah at 'a low point'
Golan explained that Hezbollah is currently “at a low point, militarily, politically, and economically.”
He said that within Lebanon, opposition to the terror group was growing, and that both Israel and Lebanon’s government had a shared interest in weakening Hezbollah.
He also sharply criticized Netanyahu, stating that the government was suffering “from complete strategic blindness” and was continuing to go to additional rounds of war without properly finding adequate solutions.
“The Netanyahu government has effectively fallen in love with war as a solution. It prefers to avoid making difficult historical decisions and instead sink into prolonged fighting, as if the use of force were the sole objective,” Golan accused.
“A true victory, one that ensures security for generations, is always the result of a precise combination of overwhelming military force and a successful political conclusion,” he said.
Sheffer pointed to a current “unprecedented” diplomatic opportunity that must not be missed.
“Hezbollah, politically, is on the ropes. The Lebanese government sees Israel as a potential partner and Hezbollah as an illegitimate organization,” he explained.
“For two and a half years, Israel has been using force without a political strategy.” Sheffer warned that all the military action carried out by the IDF would have “no meaning” without one.
“If we do not act to strengthen the Lebanese government and decisively separate it from Hezbollah, the military effort will be meaningless, and within a few months, we will return to the exact same situation. We will hear false promises about dismantling Hezbollah, followed by another round.”
As part of Sheffer’s strategy, he said that Israel must cooperate with European partners and with the United States, while also cutting off the resource pipelines flowing from Iran to Hezbollah, alongside uncompromising military action against the organization.
“Seizing territory in Lebanon should be a very limited, time-bound tactical measure that enables strikes against Hezbollah, protects northern communities, and serves as leverage in negotiations,” he said.
He also warned that Israel should not be tempted to have a permanent IDF presence on Lebanese soil.
“Choosing this path would be a severe strategic mistake. It exposes forces to attacks from guerrilla and terrorist elements and does not prevent Hezbollah’s rocket fire on northern communities, exactly as we are seeing in recent days,” he said.
On Thursday, opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) visited the northern border as well, where he said that Israel should continue military action in Lebanon.
“We must not stop until we clear Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon and create a sterile buffer zone. If it requires evacuating Shi’ite villages from southern Lebanon, then that is what we will do,” Lapid said.
He also called for simultaneous negotiations with the Lebanese government and to mobilize efforts to push Hezbollah away from northern communities, “until there is complete quiet across Israel’s North and every threat is removed.”
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avidgor Liberman told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that though a ground operation in Lebanon “could not be avoided,” what was required to eliminate Hezbollah was a combined military and diplomatic approach.