Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz suggested on Monday that U.S. pressure had spared Hezbollah from collapse, as he warned that Iran could strike the Jewish state in defense of its Lebanese proxy.
U.S. President Donald Trump sought to link the Lebanese and Iranian fronts “because Iran was applying heavy pressure,” Katz told Israeli military reporters during a briefing on Jerusalem’s defense doctrine in the wake of the wars with Hezbollah and Tehran, according to Channel 12 News.

Following discussions with the White House, the Israel Defense Forces was ordered to stand down, the defense minister said, preventing a “massive blow that the IDF had planned to continue delivering to Hezbollah.”

“Linking the fronts saved Hezbollah from a terrible blow, perhaps even its collapse,” he added.