As Lebanon continues to be stuck between two difficult choices—prolonged confrontation with Israel or making peace with the Jewish state and teaming up with it to fight Hezbollah—a third option has been making the rounds in media circles.
Presenting itself as a more rational medium-ground option, it places Lebanon's supreme national interest front and centre and warns of the dangers of slipping into Israel's embrace. On the surface, this seems reasonable; however, upon closer inspection—and setting aside the condescending, arrogant tone of these proponents—this argument offers very little substance.
The truth is that Lebanese authorities are well aware of the gravity of the situation and the political traps the Israelis may set. And what option three advocates fail to grasp is that they aren't the sole determiners of what constitutes the national interest. The Lebanese people are deeply divided—not only in their vision for the future but over who is to blame for the country's dismal state of affairs.
Dismal state of affairs
It is worth taking stock of the catastrophe we have been forced to endure. First: Lebanon suffered one of the three worst economic collapses in the world over the past three centuries, according to a World Bank report issued on 1 June 2021. Second: To this day, there has been zero explanation or accountability over the Beirut port explosion, which destroyed large parts of the capital, killed more than 230 people, and caused billions of dollars in losses. And Three: the "resistance," represented by Hezbollah and its former secretary-general, played a powerful role in thwarting every reform effort by obstructing investigations or accusing those demanding reform of "serving foreign embassies."
