Israel should intensify strikes against any Hezbollah activity detected in southern Lebanon while avoiding a declaration that the ceasefire has ended, former head of the Mossad’s counterterrorism division Oded Ailam told 103FM on Thursday.
Speaking with Amihai Attali and Barak Serri, Ailam discussed the escalation in Lebanon and tensions in the Persian Gulf amid threats by US President Donald Trump and Tehran’s statement that an agreement with Oman was close to being signed.
Ailam first addressed the escalation in Lebanon, during which two IDF soldiers, Maj. (res.) Harel Birenstock and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Tamir Vaknin, were killed in an explosive device blast.
“Contain it? Certainly not. And certainly not end it, either. We cannot end this unilaterally. There is the big redheaded brother, who pretty much dictates the moves here. We need to maneuver between two options, neither of which is good. First, we need to continue this, or even intensify it, without declaring that the ceasefire is over.”
According to Ailam, targeted killings of senior figures and attacks in Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood would amount to breaking the rules of the game, a step he advised Israel to avoid.
Strikes without a return to all-out war
“Let us not forget that we are also holding talks with the Lebanese. They ended unexpectedly on Wednesday, but the talks are important, not because the Lebanese army will take control of the area tomorrow and establish the Principality of Liechtenstein. That will not happen. But over time, it matters that we, and not only we but the world, give significant legitimacy to the idea that there is one sovereign authority, and that is Lebanon.”
“I would recommend striking with force anywhere in southern Lebanon where we identify any kind of organizing, without any reservations and without any restrictions,” he added.
“Those points that are supposedly part of the pilot program are places where we need to examine how we operate. I would not recommend that Israel take the gloves off at this stage, declare that the rules have been broken, and return to fighting until Hezbollah is completely destroyed.”
Ailam attacks Trump’s record
Ailam later recalled the US president’s financial ventures, which had experienced both successes and failures.
“Excellent question. I want to remind you who Trump is. From 1991 to 2009, as a businessman, his corporations went bankrupt six times. Somehow, he escaped all of them by the skin of his teeth because he separated himself from the corporations, and the price was that he relinquished control. This is a pattern that characterizes this man.”
“And now we are seeing his seventh bankruptcy, and that of the corporation called America,” he charged. “Trump will separate himself from it and announce that this is a brilliant victory. In February 2020, Trump signed a brilliant peace agreement with the Taliban, if you remember, in which the Taliban became vegetarians, sent their women to an anthroposophic school, and, of course, gave women status. Shall I remind you how it ended? Afghans died on American aircraft as the Americans fled Afghanistan. That is the man.”