The Truth About Why Saudi Arabia and Israel Are Forming an Alliance to Destabilise Lebanon

There’s a reason Saudi Arabia and Israel – two ideologically opposed nightmares – have begun bonding publicly since Donald Trump’s election victory. There’s also a reason why, not so long ago, Israel held its largest military drill in 20 years. It simulated a full-on invasion of Lebanon with the specific intention of going after Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shia proxy militia. In fact, Israel has been planning for a major war for some time now, yet the mainstream media hasn’t deemed this to be anywhere near as newsworthy as it should be.

There’s also a reason why Saudi Arabia warned its citizenry to leave Lebanon immediately. Saudi Arabia is not taking its war to Iran – it’s taking its war to Lebanon, the latest victim in the anti-Iran coalition’s on-going pursuit to confront Iran’s growing sphere of regional influence.

One should bear in mind that Lebanon was one of the seven countries listed in US Army’s four-star General Wesley Clark’s exposed memo of the nations the US intended to topple following 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Furthermore, Israel already tried its hand at invading Lebanon in 2006 but was, by all accounts, unsuccessful.

This time, Saudi Arabia and Israel have made public their mutual interest in pursuing a confrontation in Lebanon. No one will admit it, but Saudi Arabia is in trouble. While grappling with this growing reality, the country has to find a way to ensure it doesn’t lose out massively to Tehran, its regional arch-rival.

But Hezbollah is not going anywhere in Lebanon. The country’s president, who is a Christian, already affirmed in September of this year that he sees Hezbollah as necessary to ensure Lebanese resistance to Israel. This is why Israel labelled both Lebanon’s army and Hezbollah as its foe — the two are heavily intertwined.

Therefore, bullying Lebanon into conceding to Saudi Arabia and Israel will be close to impossible without using direct force.

Given Hezbollah’s battle-hardened resolve in the Syrian conflict, its surge in membership, its growing alliance with Russia and Iran, and its newly acquired stash of weaponry, one can only hope Saudi Arabia and Israel are fully prepared, not only for a Syrian War 2.0, but also for the regional explosion that could ignite if these wars in the Middle East are not significantly de-escalated and scaled back within the next few years.