اسرائیل

Amid mounting economic and security pressures in the West Bank, only a U.S.-led mechanism can credibly determine Palestinian compliance with the Taylor Force Act and help promote wider stability.

Circumstances are ripe for a successful visit, but both presidents are looking for more than bonhomie—Aoun needs practical U.S. commitments of operational and financial support, while Trump needs additional evidence of Beirut’s seriousness on disarming Hezbollah.

Presidential spats with Israeli prime ministers are nothing new, and scapegoating America’s most capable ally in the Middle East would mean more work for U.S. forces, not less.

U.S. and Israeli experts discuss the potential obstacles to progress in upcoming rounds of negotiations, and explain why keeping the Lebanon track separate from the Iran talks would be wise.

If coordinated properly, reconstructing—and rethinking—the northern camps destroyed during Operation Iron Wall could help improve refugees’ lives, reduce militant activity, and create a rare shared interest and perceptual shift between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Given Hezbollah coup threats, Beirut may seek to proceed incrementally toward establishing a state monopoly on weapons, but Washington and Israel will expect quicker results this time.

With Washington’s help, there is a path forward for Beirut and Jerusalem to agree on something that is more limited than a full ceasefire, and that enables them to launch negotiations to advance both the disarmament of Hezbollah and the achievement of bilateral peace.

The military and diplomatic risks of reentering south Lebanon are weighty, but Israel can mitigate them by publicly clarifying its security objectives, pursuing a bilateral political horizon, focusing its military efforts, and (finally) holding officials in Beirut accountable.

Why did the group strike now, what might they do next, and how could it affect the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran?