Israel needs a smarter strategy for Lebanon

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

57% : Large segments of Lebanese society want a normal state - so that for the first time in decades, the interests of Israel and many Lebanese substantially overlap.
57% : Israel can always return.
56% : Buffer zones reinforce Hezbollah's longstanding claim that Israel harbors territorial ambitions in Lebanon - and hands Iran a role as "protector" of the country.
55% : It should support international efforts to strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces, improve border security, reduce Hezbollah's patronage networks, and help Lebanese institutions establish effective authority throughout the country.
54% : Israel's current approach is squandering one of the most favorable political environments it has ever faced in Lebanon.
53% : Israel's strongest position has always been that it seeks no Lebanese land whatsoever.
52% : Most importantly, they transform Israel from a country seeking security into a country that appears to covet territory beyond its recognized border.
52% : For decades, Israel has effectively told the world that it will handle Hezbollah on its own.
52% : Israel should use that space.
51% : Every additional month of military activity narrows the distinction between Lebanon and Hezbollah precisely when Israel should be widening it.
51% : Israel should make clear that it is prepared to return fully to the international border and that its sole objective is security, not territory.
51% : The focus would shift from Israel's military presence to the far more important question of why an armed organization continues to operate outside the authority of the Lebanese state.
48% : They deserve an honest assessment of what Israel is trying to accomplish in Lebanon and whether the methods it has relied upon for nearly half a century have any realistic chance of producing a lasting result.
44% : If Israel abides by the ceasefire, so too, probably, will Hezbollah.
41% : Israel should actively seek a broad international consensus that the existence of an armed militia outside state control is incompatible with a stable Lebanon.
39% : For years, Hezbollah justified its position by portraying itself as Lebanon's defender against Israel.
39% : They weaken Israel's legitimacy while offering only limited security benefits against threats that can emerge from far beyond the occupied area.
36% : Every military operation that causes extensive damage inside Lebanon - as occurred again over the weekend - shifts attention away from Hezbollah's role in the country's predicament and redirects it toward Israel.
34% : Instead, Israel risks destroying it.
33% : Israel assumes responsibility for solving the problem and then finds itself condemned for the methods available to it.
29% : Israel's military is again stuck in a quagmire in southern Lebanon.
27% : That is the conversation Israel should be encouraging because Hezbollah should not be treated primarily as Israel's problem.
11% : For about 45 years, Israel's approach has rested on a simple premise: Hezbollah threatens Israel, Lebanon cannot control Hezbollah, and therefore Israel must deal with Hezbollah itself.

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