Israel's Ultimatum to Hezbollah: Back Off or Go to War

With escalating attacks on Hezbollah’s rank and file, commanders and infrastructure, Israel is pressing its military and intelligence advantage to give the Lebanese group an implied ultimatum: make a deal to pull back from Israel’s northern border, or go to war.

Israel is rotating its attention to its border with Lebanon as the Gaza Strip battlefield becomes static, launching an aggressive series of attacks that have devastated Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. This past week’s pager and walkie-talkie attacks revealed that Israel has deeply compromised Hezbollah’s communication systems, while an airstrike on Beirut that killed much of the leadership of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force showed how Israel’s intelligence capabilities continue to expose the group’s top operatives.

The U.S. has been pushing for a diplomatic solution that would have Hezbollah agree to voluntarily move its force several miles off the Israeli border and back toward a line agreed to after their 2006 war. That agreement is enforced by United Nations peacekeepers, who have been unable to keep Hezbollah out.

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