Former Israeli PM Urges End to Hezbollah’s ‘Unprovoked’ Aggression

Israel has “run out of patience,” declared former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who defended the Jewish State’s right to protect its citizens from terror, calling on his government to end its “shameful” restraint in response to Hezbollah’s unprovoked rocket attacks, while comparing the situation to a hypothetical attack on the U.S. from Cuba.

In a viral post Monday, the former Israeli Prime Minister voiced sharp criticism against Hezbollah’s continued aggression toward Israel, demanding that Israel adopt a more assertive approach to defending its people. 

In the statement, which garnered over half a million views on social media, he called on the Israeli government to stop showing what he called “too much restraint” in the face of Hezbollah’s relentless rocket attacks that have terrorized northern Israel.

Bennett, who served as the country’s Defense Minister prior, highlighted Hezbollah’s repeated unprovoked assaults, including the firing of over 8,000 rockets into Israel in the past eleven months.

“Israel left Lebanon 24 years ago. Since then Hezbollah has attacked Israel time and again for no reason whatsoever,” he explained.

He emphasized the tragic human cost, noting that these attacks have killed dozens of Israelis, including 12 children on a soccer field in July. 

“These attacks were unprovoked,” he reiterated, reminding others that while Gaza is on Israel’s southern border, Hezbollah is in Lebanon, another front in Israel’s security landscape, but one located “on Israel’s northern border.” 

Hezbollah’s Terrorism

Equating the terror group to Nazi Germany’s grip over its people, Bennett did not mince words about Hezbollah’s influence in Lebanon, making it clear that it is not simply a “rogue organisation” but a powerful force within Lebanon. 

“Hezbollah controls the Lebanese government,” he stated, just as the Nazis “were not divorced from Germany” during World War II.

He warned that the world should see this conflict as a direct confrontation between Israel and Lebanon, with Hezbollah acting as the aggressor.

“Hezbollah IS Lebanon,” he insisted.

The former prime minister also defended a recent precision strike targeting Hezbollah terrorist operatives, addressing criticism from international figures. 

Bennett dismissed their criticism, noting that the operation specifically targeted individuals linked to Hezbollah, using pagers distributed to senior members of the “savage” terror organization. 

“I simply cannot understand criticism by the likes of AOC or the UN chief,” he said, describing the move, instead, as a “moral, effective, and clever anti-terror operation,” as he condemned those who would question Israel’s right to defend itself.

Israel’s Right to Self-Defense

Bennett’s message underlined the difficult position Israel finds itself in: committed to defending its citizens while being unfairly criticized on the international stage. 

“Israel’s government evacuated some 80,000 Israelis from their homes in northern Israel, and they’ve been refugees in their own country ever since,” he stated, calling the precedent both “shameful” and “unacceptable.” 

He called on Israel’s critics to imagine how their own countries would react if subjected to the same level of violence. 

Drawing a comparison, Bennett questioned how the United States government would respond if al-Qaeda set up bases in Cuba and fired thousands of rockets at Florida, causing the evacuation of Miami.

“Do you now understand why I think Israel’s government has ‘contained’ this for way too long?” he asked.

Call for Immediate Action

For Bennett, the choice is clear: Israel must act swiftly and decisively to protect its people and remove Hezbollah’s threat.

“The Israeli government has shown tremendous—and in my view, way too much—restraint during this past year,” he stated.

He called on Hezbollah to withdraw from Israel’s northern border and disarm, but warned that if this could not be achieved diplomatically, then Israel had every right to take military action. 

“Israel is fed up with Hezbollah and Lebanon terrorising our people. We need Hezbollah to move away from our border, lay down their arms and rockets, and quit terror,” he said.

 “This can be achieved diplomatically or militarily, but it must happen now,” he concluded. “We’ve run out of patience.”

His frustration is echoed by many Israelis, who have grown weary of Hezbollah’s attacks and the apparent indifference of the international community.

 In June, Bennett insisted Israel must “de-Nazify Gaza” after defeating Hamas, highlighting the need to address widespread anti-Jewish sentiment among Palestinians, who overwhelmingly support both Hamas and the October 7 massacre it perpetrated. 

The matter comes as Israel exchanges blows with Hezbollah, after the Iranian proxy’s ceaseless targeting of Israeli civilians over the last year. 

Meanwhile, Israel is in the midst of efforts to dismantle Hamas in Gaza following the terrorist group’s deadly October 7 attack, the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust, which killed nearly 1,200 people, most of them Israelis, wounded over 4,800, and resulted in 241 hostages — over half of whom remain in Gaza. The vast majority of the victims are civilians and include dozens of American citizens.

The following day, on October 8, Hezbollah fired guided rockets and artillery shells at Israel in response to the Israel-Hamas war that began the previous day. Since then, intensified clashes between Israel and Hezbollah have significantly escalated tensions in the region, with exchanges of fire across the Lebanon-Israel border leading to major displacements and fears of an imminent major confrontation between the Iranian-backed terror group and the Jewish state.

FLASHBACK: Listen as Hamas Terrorist Calls Parents, Brags About Killing 10 Jews

As a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and terrorist group, Hezbollah wields significant influence in Lebanon, effectively shaping its political and security landscape, and is often perceived as a state within a state. Its military strength has grown considerably, at times surpassing the capabilities of the Lebanese Army. With support from Iran and political backing from Syria, the group has expanded its activities beyond Lebanon, notably participating in the Syrian Civil War alongside the Assad regime. 

Hezbollah, which has been actively seeking to expand its influence beyond the Middle East, is designated a terrorist organization by more than a dozen countries and international entities, including major Western nations, members of the European Union, and most Arab League member states, due to its involvement in terrorist activities against American, French, Israeli, and other targets.

Consequently, it poses significant security concerns to Israel and has contentious relations with the United States. In 1983, Hezbollah bombed the Beirut Marine barracks in Lebanon, killing 241 American servicemen in what was one of the deadliest pre-9/11 attacks against the U.S. 

Speaking at a White House event marking the 35th anniversary of the attack in 2018, then-President Donald Trump stated that, “No terrorist group other than al Qaeda has more American blood on its hands.”

On Sunday, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) criticized the Biden-Harris administration for putting more pressure on Israel than Hamas, saying it likely “prolonged the fighting.”

According to Cotton, many Americans may not realize how much Hezbollah has attacked Israel from Lebanon. He affirmed Israel’s right to “defend itself and go on the offense” against these groups.

He also criticized the administration for not providing the necessary political and diplomatic support from the start.

“We need to give [Israel] the tools to defeat both Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north and defend their own people.”