Weekly Commentary: Delay In Withdrawal From Lebanon Gives Rubio 1st
Opportunity
Dr. Aaron Lerner 22 January 2025

"I want the Department of State to have the best ideas and the best options
available for the President, and then I want us to be able to execute them
better than any agency in our government. That will also be a task of mine.
I have watched from the congressional side from time to time,
administrations in both parties, in which sometimes the Department of State
has been sort of relegated to a secondary role because some other agency can
move faster or seems to be bolder or more creative. It's not your fault, but
we're going to change that. We want to be at the centerpiece, and we want to
be at the core of how we formulate foreign policy, because we're going to
have the best ideas of any agency and because we're going to execute it
better and faster and more effectively than any other agency in our
government. And I know we have the right team to do it."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio Remarks to Employees 21 January 2025

Anyone with eyes in their head knows that the Lebanese Army has failed to
demonstrate that they can be relied upon to prevent Hezbollah from renewing
its threat to Israel from south Lebanon.

So, as the Secretary of State of an administration which strives for "peace"
and not a "piece of paper," Secretary Rubio's first challenge for his team
of experts is to develop and execute a bold and creative program to support
Israel's continued deployment in south Lebanon.

To be clear: not to analyze IF Israel should stay but rather how the United
States will SUPPORT Israel's staying.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the experts at Foggy Bottom to show
their new boss that they can shed the chains of wishful thinking that have
so often hindered them until now.

We here in Israel are very much looking forward to the change!

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Arab-Israeli relations

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