Israel Warns Against Replacing Hezbollah With Syrian or Turkish Backers in Lebanon

A political column based on comments by Channel 14 commentator Yaakov Bardugo says Israel is watching major shifts in Lebanon with alarm, after an emergency security cabinet discussion in Jerusalem on Sunday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly led the meeting, which focused on the possibility that Syrian forces, described in the article as groups linked to Ahmad al-Sharaa, known as al-Julani, could enter Lebanon and operate against Hezbollah.

The piece argues that while U.S. President Donald Trump is viewed in Israel as a close ally, his reported willingness to accommodate Turkish interests could create a dangerous regional bargain. It says Trump’s ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may produce a plan in which Syrian forces fight Hezbollah on Lebanese soil, but warns that this would not be a gift to Israel, because, in the author’s view, there are no free geopolitical favors in the Middle East.

The article says the Netanyahu government is drawing a clear red line: Israel will remove the Hezbollah threat itself and will not allow what it calls a radical, murderous force to replace Hezbollah on the northern border. It quotes the cabinet’s message that Israel is not fighting this war to trade one threat for another, and warns that any Syrian intervention in Lebanon, encouraged by Turkey, would cross a line Israel will not accept quietly.

The column also says the Israel Defense Forces are showing resolve by keeping up full operational readiness and staying in Lebanon as long as necessary until Hezbollah is removed as a threat. It concludes that Israel must retain independent control over the northern front and defend Mount Hermon and the entire border on its own, without relying on regional “saviors.”