Eugene Kontorovich, a professor at George Mason University Scalia Law School and a scholar at the Kohelet Policy Forum, on Wednesday, published an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal headlined, saying UNIFIL “has long enabled Hezbollah’s aggression and is now obstructing Israel’s efforts to defend itself.”
Under the headline, “Trump Should Fire the U.N. Forces in Lebanon,” Kontorovich argues that as Israel fights Hezbollah’s army in Lebanon, it has been running up against an unexpected enemy: the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which “Having failed at its mission of neutralizing the Hezbollah threat,” is now “actively interfering with Israel doing the job.”
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to remove UNIFIL troops from Hezbollah strongholds as their presence endangers both UN personnel and Israeli soldiers (Netanyahu Warns Guterres to Get UNIFIL ‘Out of Harm’s Way’).
“I would like to appeal directly to the UN Secretary-General: the time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and the combat zones,” the prime minister said unabashedly. “The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields. Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers.”
“We regret the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm,” Netanyahu continued, “But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone. Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately.”
Love this video of what the IDF is saying is a Hezbollah weapons cache in southern Lebanon, right next to a UNIFIL post with Irish peacekeepers. Wow, what a neatly gathered collection of weapons in a convenient spot, right next to the troops of the country we hate most. Crazy! pic.twitter.com/ZPXnRUlDqO
— Séamus Malekafzali (@Seamus_Malek) October 13, 2024
In response, the UN Security Council further broadened UNIFIL’s mandate to ensure that no “armed groups” operate in southern Lebanon, specifically aiming to disarm and expel Hezbollah. Contrary to this objective, Kontorovich noted, the terrorist organization has entrenched itself, seizing control of entire villages and concealing stockpiles of weapons within private residences. Hezbollah has amassed a substantial arsenal exceeding 200,000 rockets and missiles, which includes approximately 40,000 ballistic missiles. The group has strategically positioned its armed forces within the line of sight of UNIFIL observation posts. Nevertheless, the UN peacekeepers have taken no action to prevent Hezbollah from transforming southern Lebanon into a militarized zone from which to launch attacks against Israel.
“To make matters worse, this boondoggle seems to have undergone a sort of regulatory capture by the terrorists it was supposed to police,” Kontorovich wrote. “After failing to fulfill its mandate, UNIFIL branched off into social services, building solar power facilities and providing veterinary services for what it called ‘local communities.’ It may in the process have inadvertently provided utilities and social services for Hezbollah. The terrorist group uses private homes in Shiite villages as weapons warehouses and rocket-launching facilities, even paying rent to civilians who host them. Any assistance efforts in south Lebanon that don’t screen for terrorist affiliation would end up aiding Hezbollah.”
On October 8, 2023, the extent of UNIFIL’s shortcomings became evident as Hezbollah joined Hamas’s assault on Israel, Kontorovich pointed out. Throughout the past year, Hezbollah’s missile strikes have persisted, resulting in the deaths of numerous Israeli civilians and rendering significant portions of northern Israel uninhabitable.
“Now that Israel has finally moved into Lebanon to clear out Hezbollah, UNIFIL is getting in the way—knowingly providing the terrorist group cover,” according to Kontorovich.
American taxpayers contribute approximately 30% of UNIFIL’s $550 million budget, effectively providing support to Hezbollah. In August 2020, President Trump indicated a potential veto of the reauthorization; however, the United Nations assuaged the concerns of the State Department by offering assurances of reform. Proponents of UNIFIL argued that the force required a more robust mandate, which was subsequently granted. “The results are appalling,” Kontorovich wrote.
He concluded: “UNIFIL’s current mandate expires in August 2025, and there is no rational basis for reauthorizing it. But Donald Trump can save lives today by declaring that if he is elected, UNIFIL is fired. Clearly, the organization sees itself as the defenders of Hezbollah’s southern Lebanon, not enforcers of U.N. resolutions. Maybe when they have a good chance of losing their salaries, they will be less enthusiastic about this self-appointed mission.”
