Israel has concluded that the plan to disarm Hezbollah through the Lebanese Army is failing to achieve its objectives, with Israeli officials explicitly describing the pilot program as a failure for the first time, Channel 14 News reported.
The Lebanese Army is not merely failing to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure but is even coordinating its operations with the terror group, a phenomenon noted by Israel in the past.
A diplomatic official said the problem extends beyond the Lebanese Army’s ineffectiveness to suspected coordination with Hezbollah at every level, from its senior command to soldiers in the field.
“Not only is the Lebanese Army failing to fulfill its responsibilities under the pilot program, but we assess with a fairly high degree of confidence that it is coordinating its activities with Hezbollah,” the official said. “This coordination begins with Lebanese Army commander Rodolphe Haykal and extends down to the soldiers in the field. The pilot program has failed—there is no other way to describe it.”
The disclosure follows mounting warning signs in Israel about the Lebanese Army’s ability and willingness to act against Hezbollah. Walla reported in late August that Israel had informed the United States that the pilot program in southern Lebanon had failed, citing the Lebanese Army’s handling of Hezbollah infrastructure.
Security officials quoted at the time said that the Lebanese Army was not destroying infrastructure at locations identified and provided by the IDF, even as it continued asking Israel for additional coordinates.
The pilot program was established as part of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon. Under the plan, the IDF would withdraw from designated areas in southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese Army to enter and prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing itself there. The arrangement was intended to begin in specific areas and later expand to additional territory.
Israel, however, increasingly believes that expectations that the Lebanese Army could confront Hezbollah on its own have proven unrealistic. A recent report by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center found that although meetings between senior Hezbollah and Lebanese Army officials stopped after the Lebanese government declared that weapons must remain under exclusive state control, contacts have continued on the ground between military intelligence officers and Hezbollah terrorists—primarily in southern Lebanon and certain parts of Beirut—for local coordination purposes.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic track with Beirut has also fallen behind schedule. A round of Israeli-Lebanese talks scheduled to take place in Rome in September has been postponed until October. According to a U.S. official, the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors will meet in Washington instead, with formal negotiations expected to resume in Rome next month.
Channel 12 News reported that the delay was partly due to Rosh Hashanah, an upcoming conference in Paris aimed at strengthening the Lebanese Army, and preparations for the United Nations General Assembly. Behind-the-scenes contacts between the parties are continuing under the framework agreement signed by Israel and Lebanon in June.
The implications for Israel could be dramatic. If the Lebanese Army is unable or unwilling to disarm Hezbollah and prevent it from returning to areas vacated by the IDF, Israel’s show of reliance on the Lebanese mechanism will continue to diminish. Jerusalem understands that the problem is not merely the Lebanese Army’s operational capabilities, but also whether it is genuinely prepared to confront one of the country’s most powerful forces.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
