Hezbollah victorious, 'Israel' afraid: Israeli media

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The Israeli occupation's media gave a lot of attention and airtime to the developments between "Tel Aviv" and Beirut over the demarcation of the maritime zones, especially in light of the noise created by the Israeli occupation's officials when they rejected Lebanon's revisions to the draft agreement drawn up by US mediator Amos Hochstein.

Sayyed Nasrallah won

The agreement formulated between "Israel" and Lebanon is a "great victory" in terms of morale for Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who is close to once again being crowned as "the liberator of Lebanon and the vanquisher of the Israelis from the security belt" as he was at the onset of the millennium, Israeli author and political analyst Eli Bar-On said.

The agreement between Lebanon and "Israel" is a point on Sayyed Nasrallah's record, for he urged the Lebanese government to hold its ground and not to compromise, Israeli Channe 13 Arab affairs expert Zvi Yehezkeli noted.

Sayyed Nasrallah is playing a game of chicken with "Israel" at a time that no one in the occupation can beat him at this game; to the contrary. The Israelis will take his threats seriously and will take the loss, and in the end, the agreement will be how the Lebanese have wanted it all along, Yehezkeli added. 

IOF fears Hezbollah

Right-wing Haaretz columnist Israel Harel published an article on Friday criticizing the estimations made by former Israeli security officials calling on "Tel Aviv" to reach an agreement with Lebanon. He said that these former officials, just like the occupation's government, saw that Nasrallah was "bragging" through his threats about targeting the gas rig. However, the Israeli occupation forces showed that they have a very shallow understanding after telling the cabinet that "there is a security and political need for an agreement to be reached shortly without delay to prevent a highly likely security escalation."

Harel accused the Israeli occupation forces of "continuing to tremble at the mention of Hezbollah", criticized what the government called a "political need", and criticized everyone saying that Sayyed Nasrallah was merely showing off amid talks for a "need" to prevent a military escalation.

The document advising the Israeli cabinet to fulfill Sayyed Nasrallah's demands in order to avert an escalation was drafted based on the opinion of Chief of the General Staff Aviv Kochavi, Deputy Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi, Military Intelligence chief Aharon Haliva, and their "squad" in the IOF General Staff. "This is difficult and painful," said Harel. "We are damned if we reach this stage."

'Israel' in strategic crisis

The strategic inferiority of the Israeli occupation is crystalizing before everyone's eyes, and "Tel Aviv" is the deterred party today, Bar-on highlighted. "In order to prevent a huge upcoming war, it is seeking to pay a ransom, ceding national property, and branding itself as a subservient subordinate who pays to gain time."

According to the Israeli political affairs analyst, "Tel Aviv" cannot plunge itself into war in the meantime, for it is going through a highly critical period, going through various crises of its own:

• An ongoing domestic security crisis
• An underprepared internal front
• A small Israeli army incapable of simultaneously fighting on several fronts
• A fragile domestic situation, with Palestinians garnering self-confidence and stockpiling weapons for "the day of reckoning"
• The Gaza Strip is preparing for war
• A near-independent state in several regions of the West Bank
• A nuclear Iran

Netanyahu spreading the news of 'Israel's" defeat

Haaretz columnist Yossi Verter appeared to be heavily critical of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on incumbent PM Yair Lapid, calling him a "domestic inciter" who is "brainwashing the naive public using lies". The "lies" in question are: "Lapid capitulated, signing an agreement that gives sovereign Israeli territories to Hezbollah and handing a gas rig worth billions of dollars to Hezbollah for Nasrallah to use to manufacture missiles and rockets he can use against us."

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has a delegate in "Israel" that is spreading the news of his victory all over the entity, Netanyahu, who is spreading the news like wildfire, Verter said. "Nasrallah never had a PR team quite as creative, energetic, and effective as Netanyahu."

It is difficult not to see Lapid's words about the rejection of Lebanon's revisions as anything other than a reaction to political pressure exerted on him by Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu through his attempts to frame the agreement with Beirut as defeatist. That prompted Lapid to respond and flex his muscles before the Lebanese, Haaretz said on Friday, commenting on the effect that the nearing Knesset elections have had on the maritime talks with Lebanon.

This comes after an Israeli official said Thursday that the Israeli occupation rejected revisions requested by Lebanon to the US-mediated border demarcation proposal.

In response, Lebanese President Michel Aoun underlined that Lebanon had proposed the changes to the US-mediated deal with its rights to extract oil in its exclusive economic zone in mind.

Similarly, Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanese Security General Director General and one of the officials on Lebanon's negotiating team, said that Lebanon is not concerned with the Israeli response to the proposal on the demarcation of the maritime borders between Beirut and "Tel Aviv".

The Lebanese official underlined that US mediator Amos was responsible for dealing with the occupation's response to Lebanon.

"The Israeli's response means nothing to us as Lebanon," and Beirut "is waiting for the US negotiator to assume his responsibilities," he said. As long as Lebanon has a united front, it will stand strong, Ibrahim stressed.

Israeli media considered Thursday that the Lebanese maritime border agreement strengthens Hezbollah's position domestically, stressing that Hezbollah has once again proven that it can achieve its political and strategic goals in Lebanon and the region thanks to its military strength that cannot be dissuaded or weakened.