(Alma Research and Education Center) Maj. (res.) Tal Beeri - During the Israel-Iran war of June 13-24, 2025, Hizbullah chose not to engage militarily alongside Iran against Israel. In our assessment, there is a large gap between the existing presentation of Hizbullah's supposed weakness and the actual reality. Hizbullah's Shi'ite base continues to be maintained and supported by Hizbullah's broad civilian infrastructure that functions in parallel to the collapsing and non-functioning Lebanese state infrastructure. The claim that Hizbullah is deterred creates a dangerous illusion. On Nov. 20, 2024, a week before the ceasefire, Ibrahim Al-Amin - editor-in-chief of Al-Akhbar, Hizbullah's main mouthpiece - wrote that "the current confrontation is just another round in the war against Israel which must be destroyed, and for this purpose, Hizbullah will act to restore its capabilities and re-empower itself." This is the essence of Hizbullah's core ideology: there is no peace. There are no compromises. There is one ideology - continuous armed resistance. The rifle on Hizbullah's flag is not a decoration. It is a statement. The concept of "deterrence" holds no real meaning within the worldview of an ideologically driven, religious extremist organization such as Hizbullah (and similarly, Hamas). Hizbullah's decisions regarding any military/terrorist activity and the initiation of war are made based on a religious directive. In our assessment, no religious directive was issued for Hizbullah to join the war on Iran's side against Israel. It did not come from the Supreme Leader in Iran or the current leader of Hizbullah. Israel damaged Hizbullah's military capabilities very severely - but did not crush them. Had the religious directive come, Hizbullah would have joined the war on Iran's side. Hizbullah is actively restoring military capabilities and laying the groundwork for potential terrorist operations against Israel - both from within Lebanese territory and abroad. Hizbullah can currently, at any given moment, carry out activity against Israel. The writer served for 20 years in IDF Military Intelligence.
2025-07-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive