Subservient to no other nation, whether ally or enemy, Israel is a sovereign state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reinforced this fact in May 2024 when he told his security cabinet, in response to pressure from the Biden administration to cancel an attack on the city of Rafah in Gaza, that “We are not a vassal state of the United States!” He proved this through relentless conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas since October 7, 2023. As the anniversary of this conflict looms, Netanyahu can show that Israel is a sovereign— not— vassal state by reasserting total Israeli sovereignty over northern Israel. The achievement of this goal will constitute victory over Hezbollah, Iran’s terrorist proxy in Lebanon, which launched unprovoked war against Israel on October 8 at the behest of its puppet masters in Tehran.
The current situation in northern Israel is untenable. Hezbollah’s rocket attacks meant more than 60,000 citizens were forced to evacuate their homes, dozens murdered, towns deserted, kibbutzim desolate, and once-fertile fields lie scorched and fallow. Israel is not sovereign over its national territory. The reversal of this status quo is the sine qua non of a sovereign Israel; its achievement requires the intensification of the war against Hezbollah. This process is more feasible as Israel has consolidated its essential mission in Gaza to annihilate Hamas.
Israel has scored a series of well-known tactical victories against Hezbollah in the opening stages of Operation Northern Arrows, detonating pagers, exploding walkie talkies, taking out missile launchers across Lebanon, eliminating dozens of military targets, and killing the top leadership of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force in Beirut. In spectacular fashion, it also killed the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. Netanyahu linked these wins to one of Israel’s primary strategic goals, the reassertion of Israeli sovereignty over northern Israel. In late September, he declared Hezbollah would “get the message” from tough actions. “We are determined to return our residents safely to their homes. No country can tolerate fire at its residents, fire at its cities. The State of Israel cannot tolerate it either.” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised that “These moves will continue until we reach a situation where we safely return the residents of the north to their homes. This is the goal, this is the mission, and we will do everything necessary to meet it.”
“There will be no ceasefire in the north. We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organization with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.”
What about Israel’s relations with its ally, the United States? It must fight to regain the north, regardless of what the Biden administration says, does, or pressures Israel to do. In late September, the U.S. and France called for a 21-day cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel to negotiate with its enemy: “A diplomatic settlement will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes [and] further escalation of the conflict will only make that objective more difficult.” Israel rightly pushed back. Foreign Minister Israel Katz asserted, “There will be no cease-fire in the north. We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organization with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes.” Netanyahu’s office in New York, where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly, rejected claims Israel agreed to a truce: “The report about a ceasefire is incorrect. This is an American-French proposal that the Prime Minister has not even responded to. The report about the purported directive to ease up on the fighting in the north is the opposite of the truth. The Prime Minister has directed the IDF to continue fighting with full force, according to the plan that was presented to him.”
Israel remains open to serious diplomatic proposals, but must resist unhelpful American demands in tactful yet resolute ways. Doing so will project Israeli sovereignty in the face of foreign interference, even to an ally. As Israel stands its ground, it is likely the Biden administration will adjust to its plans, albeit grudgingly, as it did to a certain extent in the Hamas war. It may come at a cost, with the U.S. imprudently withholding weapons and halting arms shipments, as its closest ally in the Middle East fights for survival. But Israel can pursue its war aims in Lebanon without rupturing its relationship with the United States. A good deal of Israel’s success against Hamas on the ground in Gaza has come when it has defied unwise American calls for restraint, as in Rafah. The same will hold true as the fight against Hezbollah heats up. Israel must remain steadfast whenever the Biden Administration calls for moderation in Lebanon.
A comparative historical perspective it would be useful for the Biden Administration to remember: after September 11, 2001, the United States sent its military forces not just across its land borders, but half-way around the world to restore sovereign control of American territory and American lives, fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and conducting operations in dozens of other countries. The U.S. did the same after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, eventually incinerating Japan and pummeling Nazi Germany to dust. Israel’s threats reside not thousands of miles away, but on its northern border with Lebanon—and along its southwestern border with Gaza, too. Israel is thus justified in defending its sovereignty. It has the sovereign right, the solemn duty, to defend itself after October 7 and October 8 just as the United States did after September 11 and Pearl Harbor.
In the months ahead, Israel must seek victory—that is, the complete restoration of Israeli sovereignty over northern Israel (and thus over the entire country). What does this look like? It encompasses first and foremost the return of all Israeli citizens displaced by Hezbollah’s aggression. In mid-September, Israel’s security cabinet issued a statement on the updated war objective: “Returning the residents of the north securely to their homes. Israel will continue to act to implement this objective.” In a sovereign north, families will be safe, they will live in revitalized towns, prosperous kibbutzim, thriving Jewish communities, beside fertile farmland, and alongside Israelis of all ethnic groups and religious backgrounds. In the longer term, Israel must also envision the elimination of the existential threat posed by Hezbollah. The status quo ante of October 7 and October 8, wherein Israel tried to manage rather than eliminate the enemies at its gates, is unacceptable. Israel cannot live under the dark cloud of another October 7 across its northern border. No independent nation can accept such a scenario. Israel has determined to eradicate such a threat emanating from Gaza. Now, it has rightfully turned attention to the north, as Israel is not the vassal state of any nation, but a sovereign state.
