Dr. Ron Schleifer opened his NEWSRAEL briefing by referring to the painful developments in Lebanon, including the deaths of two Israeli soldiers and additional wounded.
He noted that the IDF is facing the urgent challenge of fiber-optic drones, rockets and Hezbollah’s ongoing pressure from the north.
Schleifer argued that this pressure is not random. In his view, Iran is instructing Hezbollah to intensify attacks on Israel in order to link the Lebanon front to the broader strategic picture, including the Strait of Hormuz, oil exports and the US-Iran negotiations. In other words, Hezbollah is being used as one more lever in Tehran’s attempt to force Israel and the United States into a weaker position.
He also warned that Israel is facing multiple pressures at once: Lebanon, Iran, Gaza, US policy and internal politics. While Gaza is “more or less solved,” he said, Lebanon has now become a central problem.