War With Hezbollah Is Inevitable
8th July 2024
Since Oct. 7, the Biden administration has been preoccupied, above all, with preventing the Gaza war from spreading to the north and escalating into a no-holds-barred war with Hezbollah.
There’s ample reason for the administration’s concern: a full-fledged war between Israel and Iran’s largest proxy can bring the administration’s whole Middle East policy tumbling down, since it will force the White House to make a public choice: It will have to abandon its quest for accommodation with Iran, and take a clear pro-Israeli stand, or else risk exposing the price that its Iran policy always entailed – exposing Israel to existential danger while simultaneously alienating America’s Arab allies who fear Iranian regional hegemony.
But preventing a war between Israel and Hezbollah will prove harder than the administration realizes. Many tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced from their homes in the north, and they will not return as long as Hezbollah can fire at them at will.