AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom, in a report by Lilech Shoval, a military affairs correspondent, revealed that at a meeting on July 30, 2017, attended by Avigdor Lieberman, the then Minister of War, Gadi Eizenkot, the then Chief of Staff of the Army, and a number of senior military commanders, the issue of launching a preemptive war against Hezbollah was discussed.
According to a handwritten minute that reached the newspaper, Lieberman had emphasized at this meeting the necessity of an attack in the near future.
According to this document, Lieberman believed that the regional and international conditions provided a suitable opportunity for a preemptive strike against Hezbollah, and that delaying this action could confront the Zionist regime with a harder confrontation and greater costs.
He also warned about the increasing industrial production capacity of precision weapons in what he called the "radical axis," and claimed that time was not in Tel Aviv's favor.
However, Lieberman's position at this meeting faced opposition from Eizenkot and other senior military officials.
According to the content of the minute, nearly all those present believed that under the current circumstances, a preemptive war against Hezbollah should not be started in the near future, because the increasing capability of precision missiles does not constitute an existential or intolerable threat, and starting a war would not have sufficient international legitimacy and internal support.
Military officials also argued that even a large-scale attack could not completely eliminate Hezbollah, because Iran would still be able to supply weapons to the movement.
They instead emphasized continuing the so-called "campaign between the wars" policy and carrying out limited and gradual operations against Hezbollah's capabilities, believing that the movement had been deterred at that time from starting an all-out war with the Zionist regime.
Lieberman had also insisted at the end of the meeting that the goal of the "radical axis" was the destruction of Israel, and that Tel Aviv should examine the ability of this current to achieve such a goal in the coming decade. He also opposed the argument that the accumulation of Hezbollah's military power could not be prevented, emphasizing that the extent of this accumulation depends on the severity of the blow the enemy will receive.
The publication of this document has now once again highlighted the disagreements within the political and military circles of the Zionist regime regarding the timing and cost of entering a war with Hezbollah.
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