Trump is once again in full “nobody does it better than me” mode. Fine. He has talked the talk. Now let’s see him walk the walk. The next few days in Lebanon, & Friday especially, are where the real test begins. “Peace” is not the announcement. Peace is what survives after the signatures, when reality gets a vote.

Netanyahu asks Lebanese if they remember the days when Lebanon was called the “Pearl of the Middle East.” We do. We also remember who invaded Lebanon in 1982, besieged Beirut, occupied the south for nearly two decades, bombed our cities, carried out massacres, assassinations & repeated wars. Interesting how Hezbollah is blamed for everything, including Lebanon’s decline, while the Israeli invasion, occupation & destruction that predated Hezbollah’s very existence are simply erased from the story. Hezbollah did not invade Lebanon. Israel did. Hezbollah did not create the occupation. Hezbollah emerged because of it. You also speak as though Hezbollah is not Lebanese. Whether one supports it or opposes it, Hezbollah represents a significant segment of Lebanese society. It has MPs in parliament, ministers in government, & a constituency that cannot simply be wished out of existence. Millions of Lebanese cannot be erased because that makes for a more convenient Israeli political narrative. The arrogance of telling Lebanese to “free themselves” from other Lebanese while Israeli forces occupy Lebanese territory & Israeli aircraft violate Lebanese airspace daily is difficult to miss. You speak as though Lebanon’s problems began with Hezbollah & Iran. That is historically illiterate at best & deliberately dishonest at worst. Lebanon has suffered from corruption, sectarianism, foreign intervention & political failure. But it has also endured repeated Israeli invasions, occupations, bombardments, assassinations & wars long before Hezbollah became a major force. And now the man whose military has spent months bombing Lebanese towns, flattening homes, killing civilians, displacing entire communities & threatening the country with “another Gaza” wants to present himself as a concerned friend of the Lebanese people. The audacity is staggering. It would be impressive were it not so grotesque. The historical revisionism is even worse. You must be getting desperate if this is the story you are trying to sell.