We have become so entangled in this affair that we have reduced the contest to a choice between “Netanyahu” and “Eisenkot”! In Lebanon’s marketplace of wishful thinking, an opponent of Hezbollah may see a Netanyahu victory as an opportunity to continue striking the party, while another may view his departure as a chance for a settlement that restores the state’s role. A Hezbollah supporter, meanwhile, may count the party’s downfall as a victory in retrospect, fear “Eisenkot,” or worry about the general who might reunite Israelis after Netanyahu divided them. The wishes may conflict, but the yardstick remains the same: What will the winner do to Hezbollah? It is as though occupation becomes a mere detail whenever it harms our political adversary. Through this lens, every Israeli statement becomes ammunition for domestic political battles: a threat against Hezbollah becomes a promise that the state will be established, while criticism of Netanyahu is recast as an acknowledgment of the resistance’s victory. We cherry-pick whatever suits us, then accuse our opponents of failing to understand Israel.
