FNC’s Shannon Bream asked Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon about the Washington Post’s reporting that Israel is likely to undermine peace negotiations and escalate conflict <\/p>\n
SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS: Iran says that they’re closing the Strait. There’s dispute about how effective that is and is not at this point. But they say it’s because Israel and Lebanon, that conflict continues. Vice President Vance talked about this in the White House briefing room this weekend, about how that complicates Israel’s action, what we’re trying to accomplish in the Middle East. Here’s what he said: J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What the president has grown frustrated sometimes is that we seem to be right on the cusp of a major breakthrough in the agreement, and then, all of a sudden, there’s a major explosion that goes off in a civilian population center in Beirut, and a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hezbollah lose their lives.<\/A> BREAM: So, Ambassador, what are the conversations like? What are the understandings like between top U.S. and Israeli officials at this point about what’s going on with respect to Lebanon? DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS:\u00a0Regarding Lebanon, we talk directly with the Lebanese government. We want to thank the secretary of state and the U.S. officials for mediating the talks. And I think that’s the way it should be, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon. I don’t understand why Iran is trying to interfere, sabotage those negotiations. At the end of the day, we want to see a free Lebanon with the control of the Lebanese government, the Lebanese military, and without the presence of the proxies of Iran. But, you know, it’s a warning sign because it shows us that Iran — they actually — they still have interest in the region. They still want to have control over Lebanon and to pose a threat against Israel. So, we are continuing to talk with the Lebanese government. And at the same time, if we will be attacked by Hezbollah, the proxy of Iran, we will have to retaliate. We will not, like, in the sitting ducks waiting for the Hezbollah to shoot our citizens, our residents. We will defend ourselves. And I hope that the Lebanese government will have the courage to take action themselves also against Hezbollah. BREAM: So what about the president’s suggestion, President Trump, that some of the responses are not proportionate by Israel into Lebanon? DANON: You know, when you fight terrorists, you always have this question of proportion. You know, we are fighting a terror machine. And I think many people in Lebanon, you know, the Christian minority and many Lebanese, they are actually grateful to Israel that we are pushing Hezbollah out of Lebanon. It’s about time that Lebanon will gain independence. And when you fight terrorists, you fight with them. It’s not a game. We are going after them. We are always trying to minimize civilian casualties. And I think that we have achieved a lot. And now it’s a crucial time for the future of Lebanon. Whether we will allow Iran to come back, to send money back to Lebanon, to Hezbollah, or we actually, for about a year, we’ve prayed for that, we will see a place in Lebanon, that they have independence and they are in control. BREAM: So I want to get your response to something that came from The Washington Post on Friday exclusively reporting this \u2013 U.S. intelligence warns Israel is likely to undermine Iran peace deal. They say this, The new U.S. intelligence report concludes that in the face of national elections this fall, Netanyahu’s political survival is linked to showing his domestic audience that he will not withdraw troops from Lebanon and that he’s intent on escalating the fighting with Hezbollah. So how do you respond to those who say this is more about the prime minister’s political future than it is about immediate threats there along your border? DANON: Well, that’s baseless. You know, only in the last 24 hours, five Israeli soldiers died because of attacks of Hezbollah. Almost every day, we see drones trying to enter Israel and attack civilian communities. The prime minister of Israel is doing what he has to do. His first priority is to defend the citizens of Israel, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. We have no beef with Lebanon. We want to have peace with Lebanon. I believe it will happen sooner than later. But to blame us for the aggression of Hezbollah, it is outrageous.
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