JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Dr. Moshe Elad, a Middle East expert and former Israeli military governor of Tyre, praised the Israeli government and the Trump administration for the agreement with Lebanon during an interview on Israel’s Radio North 104.5 FM.

“This is a brilliant political and strategic position paper by the Trump administration and Israel,” Elad said. “It sets conditions that are almost impossible for the Lebanese side to implement, and that’s good for us. In effect, it gives Israel international backing to continue its military campaign or maintain the security zone. Responsibility for dismantling terrorism is being placed squarely on Beirut.”

He explained: “This is not just a ceasefire agreement but a strategic framework aimed at officially ending the state of hostilities and establishing peaceful relations. In the past, headlines focused heavily on an Israeli withdrawal. This time there is one central headline, the two pilot zones in southern Lebanon, and the main focus is on dismantling Hezbollah and turning Lebanon into an area under the sovereignty of its government. Those are the important issues; the agreement is much less focused on us.”

Elad continued: “This time, the difference is American cooperation on the ground. That wasn’t the case before. Two years ago there was an operations room in Beirut and another in northern Israel under the auspices of Tom Barrack. They communicated with each other, but not much beyond that. There was almost no direct interaction between the IDF and the Lebanese Army; it was mostly mediated by the Americans. That arrangement quickly collapsed because the Lebanese Army personnel received threats. This time, the Americans will probably take different measures to ensure that doesn’t happen again.”

He added:”We’re talking about political screening of soldiers. In the pilot areas, an unprecedented mechanism has been agreed upon: Lebanese soldiers and officers will undergo background checks. The key question is whether the U.S. administration will provide them with support on the ground.”

Regarding the unrest in Lebanon following the agreement, Elad said:”There are disturbances—there are always disturbances. I could give you examples from the past. But this time I’m hearing Nabih Berri, and of course Naim Qassem, and other leaders there saying explicitly that the moment a Lebanese soldier lays a hand on a Hezbollah member, a civil war will break out.”

He concluded: “At the end of such a war, there could be a possibility that European powers would come in and restore order, as they have done in many places around the world. For a process leading toward this kind of agreement, there usually has to be some major crisis, an explosion, or an earthquake, so to speak. It’s possible that after such an event, with many casualties, outside powers would intervene, European countries, the United States, Turkey, and others, and decide that the time has come to restore order.”