FALCON POWERS – There is near-consensus among policymakers in Tel Aviv that a strategic strike must be directed against the Lebanese Hezbollah, and even against the Lebanese state, against the backdrop of the Majdal Shams incident in which 13 children and young people from the Arab-Druze-Syrian town under Israeli occupation since the 1967 defeat were killed on Saturday, but according to senior security sources in the occupation state, the delay in launching the strike stems from the entity’s lack of knowledge of Hezbollah’s reaction and whether the Israeli strike will lead to a comprehensive regional war?
The same sources stressed that the comprehensive war ultimately serves the strategy set by the Hamas movement to drag Israel into a wide-ranging war that exhausts it more than it is exhausted, as reported by the military affairs analyst in the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz, Amos Harel, on Monday about his informed sources within the Israeli security system.
Related to the foregoing, the leadership of the Home Front Command in the occupation entity has prepared an organized propaganda campaign to coordinate expectations with the settler public regarding the possibility of a comprehensive war, with a focus on a war to be waged against Hezbollah in Lebanon. But pushing the idea forward is still not on the agenda, despite the escalation of tension in the north, as revealed by the military affairs analyst in the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Yossi Yehoshua.
According to him, senior officers in the Home Front Command leadership said that this is the right time to launch the campaign in an organized manner so as not to create a state of hysteria, but rather to prepare the public for various developments.
The analyst pointed out that in early April last year, it was published in the Hebrew newspaper that in a discussion chaired by the Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, the Home Front Command leadership presented a propaganda campaign aimed at coordinating expectations with Israelis in the event of a confrontation with Hezbollah and Iran that could escalate into a comprehensive war.
According to the newspaper, various proposals have been made over the years for media campaigns regarding the issue of home front command similar to those familiar to the settler public, including setting up a closed room or creating a protected space in the home.
The Hebrew newspaper went on to say that “the reference scenario, which was supposed to be presented in a campaign of this kind, includes data on 150 rockets in Hezbollah’s possession in Lebanon, a fire power of more than 4,000 rockets per normal fighting day, advanced missiles, and explosive and non-explosive drones, among other things. Some of these capabilities are seen these days on the northern border. In the end, all the chiefs of staff, to whom the proposals were presented, decided not to scare the public,” as cited by senior officers in the occupation army.
Furthermore, the Hebrew newspaper emphasized that the Minister of Security decided not to launch the campaign until the eve of the tensions with Iran last April, which involved the launch of hundreds of planes towards the Israeli depth.
The newspaper also quoted sources in the office of the current Minister of Security, saying that the propaganda campaign was not presented to the Israeli army for re-approval, while the latter says that the campaign was presented several times, but the final decision is up to the political level.
The Hebrew newspaper concluded by saying that “the tensions in the north have reached their peak, and the propaganda campaign is not in the air,” as it put it.
In addition, the political analyst on the Hebrew news site (WALLA), Barak Ravid, revealed that President Biden’s adviser and his special envoy to the Middle East, Amos Hochstein, expressed concern that Israel might attack the Lebanese capital Beirut, on the pretext of the incident in the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan.
Ravid continued, quoting an Israeli official, that Hochstein’s position came during a telephone call with the Israeli Minister of Security, Yoav Gallant, noting that Hochstein told Gallant that Israel has the right to defend itself, but it must do so in a way that does not lead to further escalation and does not harm civilians. The Israeli official, according to the Hebrew site, also pointed out that Hochstein told Gallant that if Israel attacked Beirut, it was very likely that the situation would get out of control, as he put it.
