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US Ambassador to Israel Calls for Changing Situation in West Bank

US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides at a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya. (Reichmann Institute)
US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides at a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya. (Reichmann Institute)
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US Ambassador to Israel Calls for Changing Situation in West Bank

US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides at a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya. (Reichmann Institute)
US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides at a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya. (Reichmann Institute)

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides warned that the current situation in the West Bank should not continue further, and called on the Israeli government to take action in this regard.

Speaking at a conference at the Reichman University in Herzliya, Nides urged Israeli leaders to support the two-state solution.

“I fundamentally believe that to keep Israel a democratic state, we need a two-state solution. I want to change the situation on the ground to make that possible, to keep that vision alive.”

According to Nides, the escalating tensions in the West Bank are as big of a threat to Israel as Iran and its terror proxies.

“Obviously Iran and its proxies are a fundamental threat, and US President Joe Biden has said we will not stand by and allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

“It is important for us not to lose sight of what could happen if the Palestinian situation gets worse, especially in the West Bank,” Nides added.

In remarks during the same event, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar warned about the increasing number of shootouts in the West Bank, as well as a wider loss of control by the Palestinian Authority.

“We have entered a sort of closed circle,” Bar said at a counter-terrorism conference at Reichman University in Herzliya.

“Our people are making arrests every night, and are coming under fire,” he added, noting that “the price is also Palestinian casualties.”

Bar said there were over 130 shooting incidents in the West Bank this year so far, compared to 98 in 2021, up 30%.

“We made more than 2,000 arrests and significantly increased the number of arrests of illegal drug dealers,” he said.

Bar, who claimed that the Israeli army’s increased activity in West Bank city centers is a result of the PA’s “weakening grip,” is not the first Israeli official to sound the alarm and call to strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Authority.

According to Bar, the vacuum created by the absence of the Authority's governance is being played out on social media.

Bar stressed that dealing with incitement online is a “new battlefield” for the security organizations.

“The state and the public, especially the youth, remain very, very exposed.”

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Lebanese President Faces Domestic, Foreign Challenges

Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
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Lebanese President Faces Domestic, Foreign Challenges

Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS
Newly-elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun poses for a picture with his family at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, January 9, 2025. Dalati Nohra/Handout via REUTERS

The election of a new president in Lebanon does not mean the country has come out of the economic and political crises which have gutted it for years. Yet Thursday’s vote marks the beginning of a new phase that carries many challenges for the president and the upcoming government.

It is Joseph Aoun’s responsibility now to appoint a prime minister following binding parliamentary consultations and then form the Cabinet together with the PM.

According to observers, Aoun’s term should carry a roadmap to salvage the country, and a clear plan to address crises and domestic and foreign challenges.

However, there is no magic wand to solve Lebanon’s entire crises.

Instead, Aoun needs a unified working team that should draft a clear ministerial statement that reflects the President’s inaugural speech and his pledge of a “new era” for Lebanon.

“The president's speech constitutes a detailed program for governance. However, his program needs a cabinet capable of implementing it,” former Minister Ibrahim Najjar told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Najjar described the new President as an honest, clean and courageous Lebanese man.

“His election must be followed by the formation of a bold cabinet with new faces, capable of working and making achievements,” he said.

“The Lebanese people expect President Aoun to change the quota-based mentality of politicians. They hope his term will help remove old political figures, who are rooted in the Lebanese quagmire,” the former minister noted.

Former MP Fares Souaid told Asharq Al-Awsat that Aoun’s first task is to implement the Constitution and the National Accord document.

“In the early 1990s, the Constitution was no longer being implemented due to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In 2005, the Constitution was again ignored because of Iranian arms.”

Therefore, Soueid said, the Lebanese eagerly expect this new era to constitute a real opportunity for the implementation of both documents.

For years, Lebanon has failed to properly implement its Constitution and UN resolutions, mainly because some political parties had considered their implementation as “a target against their so-called resistance.”

“With the election of President Joseph Aoun, Lebanon has opened a blank page that could meet the aspirations of the Lebanese people, and write a new chapter in the country’s history,” Najjar said.

According to Soueid, Aoun has a task to return Lebanon to its Arab identity. “This is slowly beginning to show through the decline of Iranian influence in the region,” he said.

Also, Soueid said, the new President should mend Lebanon’s relations with the international community by implementing all UN resolutions.

Addressing Parliament and Lebanese people with an acceptance speech, Aoun on Thursday vowed that the Lebanese authorities will have the monopoly on arms and will be committed to a strong state that will extend its sovereignty over the entire territory.

“This is in line with UN resolutions, which if implemented, will bring Lebanon back to the Arab and international scene,” Soueid said.