TEL AVIV — A close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump and Jared Kushner this week that Israel is rushing to advance a cease-fire deal in Lebanon, according to three current and former Israeli officials briefed on the meeting, with the aim of delivering an early foreign policy win to the president-elect.
Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s minister of strategic affairs, made Mar-a-Lago the first stop on his U.S. tour Sunday before traveling to the White House to update Biden administration officials on the state of Lebanon talks, a sign of how swiftly America’s political center of gravity has shifted after Trump’s electoral victory.
“There is an understanding that Israel would gift something to Trump … that in January there will be an understanding about Lebanon,” an Israeli official said. Like others in this article, the official spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations.
And there appears to be a new X-factor in Israel’s peace plan for Lebanon: Russia, a country whose ties with Trump complicated his first term. According to the Israeli official, the proposal calls for Moscow to prevent Hezbollah from rearming via Syrian land routes, which for years have been the main conduit for arms from Iran, the militant group’s main patron.
Russian officials visited Israel on Oct. 27 to discuss the plan, according to the Israeli official. Dermer made a secret trip to Russia last week for follow-up discussions, the Israeli and U.S. officials said.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. official said Russia would not be involved in the implementation or supervision of a cease-fire agreement.
On the competing claims over Moscow’s involvement, Lowenstein said, “it’s possible that both are true: no role for the Russians now under Biden, but a big one later when Trump takes over.”
Russia, an ally of Iran, has maintained a presence in Syria since sweeping in during the country’s civil war in support of President Bashar al-Assad, working hand-in-hand with Hezbollah to brutally crush the armed uprising against his government. Now, Israel appears to be counting on Russia to pressure the Syrian president into cutting off Hezbollah’s supply lines.
“Hezbollah is cornered,” the person close to the group said.