The Lebanese government is being “coerced and blackmailed” into negotiating directly with Israel, according to Hussein Kalout, professor of International Relations at USP and researcher at Harvard. In an interview with WWKalout explained that Donald Trump is pressuring Lebanon to come to the negotiating table with Israel in Washington.
“The Lebanese government is being coerced and blackmailed into having to sit down with Israel. In fact, the purpose of this is to offer a way out for Netanyahu, who has failed,” said the expert, referring to Benjamin Netanyahu’s unfulfilled promises to Israeli society.
According to Kalout, Netanyahu had promised that the war with Iran would lead to the defeat of the Iranian regime and peace, but the result was different: “The Israeli people were deceived, because the war lasted 40 days. 40 days in which the Israelis stayed in bunkers with a rain of missiles on the country.” The professor highlighted that Israel lost “hundreds of billions of dollars” with the economy paralyzed.
Differences between government and opposition in Lebanon
The expert explained that both the government and the Lebanese opposition agree that Israel must vacate southern Lebanon, but disagree on the format of the negotiations. “The opposition does not admit direct negotiations, because it understands that this is . And the government, pressured by Washington, is negotiating directly”, he clarified.
Kalout challenged the narrative that Lebanon and Israel were allies against a common enemy: “Which is a big lie. Israel occupies Lebanon. Israel is killing Lebanese citizens, it is killing Lebanese journalists, it is destroying Lebanese villages, it is destroying Lebanese archaeological and religious sites, destroying statues of Jesus Christ in Lebanon.” According to him, “there is nothing that unites the Lebanese government with “.
