Former minister and right-wing political figure Aviad Kahana urged the prime minister to tie any IDF withdrawal from Lebanon to the removal of an Iran-operated militia brigade composed largely of Syrian and Iraqi fighters, in a detailed post Friday evening. Kahana argued the recent deadly incidents prove Iran is expanding boundaries with the Trump administration's acquiescence, and called for cross-party support behind the demand.
Former minister Aviad Kahana publicly identified himself Friday evening as the right-wing figure behind the demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condition any IDF withdrawal from Lebanon on the removal of the Iran-operated 'Imam Hussein Brigade' (Liwa al-Imam al-Hussein), a Shia militia composed mainly of Syrian and Iraqi fighters. The call, posted via The Zioneer's Telegram feed at an unspecified hour, escalates a line of argument that first appeared in an earlier bulletin at 18:36 Jerusalem — at that point attributed only to a 'prominent Israeli commentator'. Kahana's post names him explicitly and frames the demand as a cross-party national interest, urging opposition leaders to back Netanyahu publicly.
As The Zioneer reported at 18:37 Jerusalem, the original commentary had already argued that recent deadly incidents — including the deaths of five Israeli soldiers in a single week — prove Iran is exploiting what the commentator described as the Trump administration's permissive approach. Kahana's statement adopts that same framework, adding a specific call for full IDF freedom of action, including in the Dahieh area of Beirut, until the Iranian-backed foreign militia leaves Lebanese territory. The thread thus evolved from an anonymous opinion to an attributed political intervention within roughly one hour.
The wider diplomatic context, as previously reported by The Zioneer (Sun Jun 14, 20:52 Jerusalem), is that Netanyahu has told Trump that Israel is not bound by the Lebanon clause in any U.S.-Iran deal. Background articles (Thu Jun 18, 14:11 Jerusalem; Tue Jun 16, 15:20 & 17:15 Jerusalem) document the ongoing tension between Washington's push for Israeli withdrawal and Jerusalem's insistence on retaining operational freedom. Kahana's call seeks to harden that position further by tying withdrawal to the removal of a specific Iranian-controlled force.
No official Israeli or American response to Kahana's statement has been reported as of this hour. It remains unclear whether the prime minister or his aides have received or will adopt the demand.
2 developments
- DevelopingIran exerting 'atomic' pressure on Netanyahu to end Lebanon war, pull out IDF
- DevelopingTrump presses Netanyahu to withdraw from Lebanon by Friday
- DevelopingCommentator urges Netanyahu to tell Trump Israel will withdraw from Lebanon 'at the right time'
- StrongCommentator argues against immediate Lebanon withdrawal, calls for political initiative
Source and signal
- Internal intake