Netanyahu Says Israel Will Keep Security Buffer in Southern Lebanon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel will not withdraw from its security buffer in southern Lebanon as long as security needs require it, arguing that the strip protects northern Israeli communities from Hezbollah. He made the remarks during a ceremony in Gush Etzion marking Route 60 as the “Bible Road.”

Netanyahu said, “As we restored security and prosperity to the Gaza envelope, we will restore security and prosperity to the communities in the north.” He added that maintaining the buffer is necessary and said it separates “Hezbollah terrorists” from Israeli citizens and towns.

He also reviewed what he described as gains in the war against the Iran-led “terror axis,” saying Israel had removed major threats. In Lebanon, he said, “the threat of a ground invasion from our communities was pushed away” and “Hezbollah’s missile force was broken,” but he stressed that “there is still work to do” in the north and elsewhere.

Turning to Iran, Netanyahu said Israel will continue working to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. “Iran will not have nuclear weapons. And as long as I am prime minister of Israel, that will not happen,” he said. At the Route 60 event, he also emphasized the Jewish people’s historical and national connection to the land, saying, “Between the spirit of the Bible and the spirit of the heroism of our generation, the generation of victory, we again say: the people of Israel have returned home and we will remain here forever, because this is our land.”