Gantz Says Iran Aiming for ‘Regional Hegemony’ with Push for Role in Lebanon Diplomacy

FILE - Benny Gantz speaks at the announcement of former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot's election bid in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Aug. 14, 2022. Gantz, a centrist member of Israel’s three-member War Cabinet, threatened on Saturday, May 18, 2024, to resign from the government if it doesn't adopt a new plan in three weeks' time for the war in Gaza, a move that would leave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant on his far-right allies. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

National Unity chairman and former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz tweeted that Iran’s proposal to join talks on the future of southern Lebanon is evidence of Tehran’s ambition for “regional hegemony.”

This follows comments made by Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday, where he accused Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf of “blatant interference” after Ghalibaf suggested that Iran could take part in discussions regarding the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The resolution, passed in 2006, aimed to bring an end to the Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah.

Gantz said that “the state and vibrant people of Lebanon have been held captive by Iran and its terror-army proxy Hezbollah for too long.”

“The threat Hezbollah poses to Israel’s border will and must be eliminated, but the international community must also stand resolute in enforcing its decisions and together with the government and people of Lebanon, repel the coercive Iranian attempts to assume patronship over Lebanon by the fundamentalist Ayatollahs and their axis,” he added.

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