Israeli ambassador to US says including Iran in Lebanon talks is a ‘train wreck’

WASHINGTON — Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter lays into the Trump administration over its willingness to include a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of the memorandum of understanding Washington inked last week with Iran.

“We are in a train wreck,” Leiter says in a Hebrew statement issued as the ambassador began the fifth round of direct talks with Lebanon at the US State Department.

Those talks were set up by the Trump administration specifically to detach Lebanon from the ongoing Iran conflict, as Tehran sought to secure an agreement with the US that also protected its Hezbollah proxy.

The direct Israel-Lebanon channel has been used to negotiate several ceasefires in Lebanon in recent months. But those truces barely held at all, as Beirut has been unable to rein in the terror group and as Israel’s efforts to disarm it exclusively through military means have failed as well.

And as the US sought an end to the Iran war that was wreaking havoc on the global economy, it found itself accepting Tehran’s demands that a ceasefire between the US and Iran also extend to Lebanon — terms to which Israel says it is not beholden.

In his Hebrew statement, Leiter says that when the direct talks between Israel and Lebanon began, “we all got on the same train.”

“We sat in the same car and traveled to the same destination, with the United States serving as the locomotive. The train was heading in a very clear direction: full peace between the countries, Iran and its malign influence out of Lebanon, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and peace and security for Lebanon and Israel.

“Today, this train is in danger of derailing. I hope we can get it back on track,” Leiter says.

“The basic premise [of these talks] was that Iran was not involved, and the main discussion is about Lebanon and Hezbollah — not about the extent to which Iran can restrain Hezbollah,” the Israeli envoy continues. “That is not Iran’s role. Its role is to get out of Lebanon. The role of the Lebanese government is to exercise its sovereignty. Sovereignty means that Iran will no longer be involved… in Lebanon.”

Leiter says he’ll be seeking “clarity” in today’s talks — ostensibly from the US regarding what its position is on Lebanon.

The apparent disconnect in the US position may have to do with the fact that US Vice President JD Vance leads the talks with Iran, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spearheaded the talks between Israel and Lebanon while largely staying out of the Iran talks.