President Joe Biden welcomed the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which is scheduled to go into effect Wednesday morning. But in many ways, this is a fulfillment of a key campaign promise by President-elect Donald Trump.
President Trump promised Arab and Muslim voters that he would end the war in Lebanon. And Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump's father-in-law, assured the Arab world that Trump would push to end the war before taking office.
Biden had been struggling for months to secure a ceasefire. Originally, the Biden administration, through special envoy Amos Hochstein, proposed that Israel, not Hezbollah, withdraw from the border — even though Hezbollah was the aggressor.
In September, as Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron were pushing for a ceasefire, Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. If Biden had had his way, Hezbollah leaders would have remained in command and survived.
It was Israel's unexpected military advantage that paved the way for a much improved agreement. But it was also the election of President Trump that facilitated the agreement by changing the incentives on both sides of the conflict.
Hezbollah and Iran feared the Trump administration would give Israel freedom on the battlefield. And Israel was prepared to compromise, recognizing that a friendlier regime was about to emerge.
The question is whether the ceasefire will last. That will likely depend on Iran's ability to rearm Hezbollah.
President Trump has promised to reinstate sanctions against Iran.make Iran go bankrupt again” Strategy. If so, peace could actually become a reality.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. he is the author of Agenda: What should President Trump do in his first 100 days?available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of Trumpian Virtues: Lessons and Legacy of the Donald Trump Presidencynow available on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
