US said seeking to install new Lebanese president, push aside weakened Hezbollah
Talks held with Qatar, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia on proposal to break a two-year deadlock on electing a president while terror group has diminished power, Wall Street Journal reports
The US is aiming to use Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah as an opportunity to push aside the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group on the path to installing a new Lebanese government, US and Arab officials familiar with talks on the matter told the Wall Street Journal in a Wednesday report
Such a development could mark a change in direction from the Biden administration’s previous calls for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which, after 11 months of simmering border violence has recently exploded into larger-scale conflict.
The Lebanese president, as commander of the armed forces, would play a vital role in heading a government to handle the current crisis, the report said.
All of the officials spoke to the Journal on condition of anonymity.
Over the past few weeks, Israel stepped up its attacks on Hezbollah and has wiped out almost all of its senior officials, among them long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an airstrike on his Beirut bunker.
With Hezbollah weakened by the Israeli attacks, the US sees an opening to shift the political situation in Lebanon, which has stagnated without an elected president for two years, the report said.
Earlier this week, US State Department spokesman Matt Miller told reporters, “What we want to see come out of this situation, ultimately, is Lebanon able to break the grip that Hezbollah has had on the country — more than a grip, break the stranglehold that Hezbollah has had on the country and remove Hezbollah veto over a president.”
In recent days, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with the leaders of Qatar, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia to seek their support for the election of a new Lebanese president, the report said.
Saudi officials told the Journal that the kingdom backs the idea, while Egyptian and Qatari officials said the plan is unrealistic and has dangers, the report said. The latter assessed that Israel cannot completely destroy Hezbollah and the group will therefore need to be included in the political process to end the conflict.
Some in Lebanon are concerned that pushing to install a president now could ignite the kind of sectarian violence that has plagued the country in the past. Egypt has also raised similar concerns, the report said, while political analysts and diplomats have noted that anyone seen as gaining power due to Israel’s military offensive could be seen as illegitimate and face anger from the Lebanese public and political rivals.
“We lack any leadership to at least initiate a course where we can see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Ibrahim Mneimneh, a reformist member of Parliament from Beirut, was quoted as saying.
White House special envoy to the region Amos Hochstein has told Arab officials that with Hezbollah weakened there is a chance to resolve the ongoing political impasse that has left the country without a president since the previous leader, Michel Aoun, ended his term in 2022.
The ensuing leadership crisis further impacted a dire economic situation that saw the Lebanese currency lose 97 percent of its value against the US dollar since 2019, plunging millions into poverty and leaving the government unable to properly address the current conflict. Fighting has displaced over a million people, according to the government.
The president is elected by the 128-seat parliament but no bloc has enough seats to elect one on its own, making support from Hezbollah and its allies necessary.
The scheme is dependent on prominent figures such as Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the report said.
Diplomats familiar with the discussions highlighted Berri, who leads a Shiite faction and is a line of communication to Hezbollah in ceasefire talks. Berri is needed to unite other political factions to elect a new president, the sources said.
Both Berri and Mikati have said they back electing a new president, but have also given support to Hezbollah in its fight against Israel.
Hezbollah’s most senior surviving official, Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem, earlier this week rejected any political restructuring while the war continues. He also said Hezbollah group supports the efforts of Berri to secure a ceasefire, without providing further details on any conditions demanded by his terror group.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called for the Lebanese to rid themselves of Hezbollah, which he said had been weakened by Israeli strikes on its leaders and infrastructure.
In an English-language video message addressed to the Lebanese public, Netanyahu said the people of Lebanon “have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza. It doesn’t have to be that way… Free your country from Hezbollah so that your country can prosper again, so that future generations of Lebanese and Israeli children will know neither war nor bloodshed, but will finally live together in peace.”
The war in the region erupted on October 7 when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led a massive cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.