There was indeed this bottle of arak opened, Saturday evening, by Amit Segal, the host of a political program on channel 12, the most watched in Israel. It was to celebrate the death of Hassan Nasrallah, one of the worst enemies of the Jewish state. Its greatest victory was to have caused the departure of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon in 2000, after some twenty years of occupation. As well as having put the Israeli army in difficulty in the “33-day war”, in 2006, an operation hastily launched following the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers – their bodies were not returned until 2008 .
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Hassan Nasrallah had made Hezbollah one of the most powerful paramilitary groups in the world, with a reputation for “militia trained like an army and equipped like a state”. Israelis could no longer tolerate the constant threat that the leader of the Party of God posed to the Jewish state.
However, Amit Segal’s initiative only provoked polite, even embarrassed, reactions. Across the country, there was no manifestation of massive joy, unlike the moment of the release of four hostages by the Israeli army in June – at the cost of an operation which cost the lives of some 270 Palestinians. Saturday, when the death of « sayyid » was confirmed, Israelis went about their business when not gathered for Shabbat.
“The war is not over. There are still 101 hostages in Gaza, no one knows if they are still aliveargues Gil Murciano, director of the Mitvim Institute, a think tank based in Tel Aviv. The same day as the announcement, the rating agency Moody’s downgraded Israel’s rating. And, since October 7, 2023, the entire country has been covered in a veil of sadness. No one knows whether these military victories will be converted into political gains. Doing incredible operations is one thing. Changing reality concretely is another. » This did not prevent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from rejoicing loudly on Saturday evening: “Yesterday, the State of Israel eliminated the ultimate murderer, Hassan Nasrallah. […] He wasn’t just a terrorist, he was the terrorist. »
“Difficult balancing act”
The Israeli press welcomed the assassination, dreaming of a more secure future. “For the first time since the start of this war, we can say with absolute certainty that the Iranian regional axis has been strategically weakened. Israel is beginning to see a solution emerge: the deployment of the Lebanese army along the border and the practical expulsion of Hezbollah as the fighting force from southern Lebanon.writes editorialist Nadav Eyal in the daily Yediot Aharonot. In the same newspaper, Ronen Bergman expresses a reservation: “So far, all of Israel’s offensive plans, including assassination, have succeeded. But the question remains what Israel plans to do in the future. » “Israel has found Nasrallah and now must find a strategy”said a senior security force official.
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