Jared Kushner says Israel must ‘finish the job’ in Lebanon
Jared Kushner, who served as a senior adviser during former US President Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House, has said calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon is “wrong”. In a post on X, Kushner said Israel “cannot afford now to not finish the job” and dismantle Hezbollah completely.
“They will never get another chance. After the brilliant, rapid-fire tactical successes of the pagers, radios, and targeting of leadership, Hezbollah’s massive weapon cache is unguarded and unmanned,” said Kushner, who is also the Republican candidate’s son-in-law.
He added that the “right move” for the US is to allow Israel to “finish the job. It’s long overdue”.
Should Trump be re-elected to the US presidency in November, Kushner could again feature prominently in his administration. In March, he sparked controversy when he publicly praised the “very valuable potential” of “waterfront property” in Gaza, in comments that gave a window into what Trump’s policy on Palestine could be during his second term.
During Trump’s presidency, Kushner played a major role in negotiating the “Abraham Accords”: normalisation deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Palestinians slammed the agreements as “a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people”.
US says all-out war not the way to return people to homes in northern Israel
Israel will not be able to safely get people back to their homes in the north of the country by waging all-out war with Hezbollah or Iran, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby added that the US was talking to Israel about what the right next steps in Lebanon would be.
Despite the rhetoric, the administration of US President Joe Biden has been approving billions of dollars’ worth of weapons transfers to Israel. Critics have called on the US to cut off weapons transfers to Israel, alleging that they make the US complicit in the destruction of Gaza and bombardment of Lebanon.
They also note that the supply of arms is a potential source of leverage, but that the administration has refused to exploit it to secure a ceasefire.
‘Calling for a ceasefire while arming and defending Israel is meaningless’
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called on the British government to cease arms sales to Israel, quoting Netanyahu’s speech at the UN General Assembly where the Israeli leader ruled out a possible ceasefire.
“The Labour government has continued to provide political, diplomatic, economic and military support to Israel while it carries out a genocide in Gaza. Its failure to demand an adherence to international law has allowed the horror we have witnessed in Gaza to spill into the wider region, including in Lebanon,” the open letter signed by other pro-Palestine members of parliament, and shared by Corbyn on X, read.
“Calling for a ‘ceasefire’ while arming and defending Israel is meaningless and does nothing to bring an end to Israeli aggression. We demand nothing less than a full arms embargo, economic sanctions and ceasing of diplomatic support to Israel,” it added.
End all arms sales to Israel now.
A statement from the Independent Alliance. pic.twitter.com/eW9ZSUw4W9
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) September 29, 2024
