A January 6 article in HuffPost reports on several American and European officials who claim there has been significant pressure behind closed doors in attempts to get the Biden Administration to shift its “unchecked” support for Israel. One anonymous official is quoted as saying: “I’ve been trying to keep an avalanche from falling on Lebanon and so have a lot of people.” The article claims that “many national security personnel fear unchecked U.S. support for Israel will make it overly confident about expanding operations into Lebanon,” further quoting the source who says: “The problem is no one can rein in Biden, and if Biden has a policy, he’s the commander-in-chief―we have to carry it out. That’s what it comes down to, very, very, very unfortunately.”
HuffPost also explains that there have been multiple U.S. government war games in order to predict the implications of a conflict breaking out along the Lebanese-Israeli border. “Every scenario shows this would escalate into something terrible … whether in terms of counterterrorism or war with Iran,” the official said, who added that the Defense Department is especially concerned about the prospect. It “would completely blow up the entire thing,” they said.
“Netanyahu, Dermer and Gallant are hell-bent on seizing this moment to expand the war into southern Lebanon and deliver some mythical imagined death blow to Hezbollah,” the official continued.
HuffPost also revealed last month the concern that Israel is seeking additional American equipment to use not in Gaza but on Lebanon, according to various national security officials. Unfortunately, the article reports, the Biden administration is so far not considering placing any conditions or restrictions on U.S. weapons supplies for Israel, according to the sources.
