Trump has given Israel some advice: bombing buildings won't work—let Syria's president, Salih, whom I installed, handle Hezbollah instead.

At Evian-les-Bains on the 16th, Trump offered Netanyahu a piece of advice directly to the camera:

"You've been fighting Hezbollah for too long, and too many people have died. There's no need to blow up entire apartment buildings every time you're looking for someone—most of the people inside aren’t Hezbollah."

What’s even more shocking is what came next: he directly named Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara’, saying, "He’s not a Boy Scout, but he handles Hezbollah extremely well—he’s my man installed there. I recommend Israel let Syria take care of it."

This statement carries three layers of meaning:

① "There would be no Israel without America, and no Israel without me"—this marks the second public outburst this month. The last time, during a phone call, he already cursed out loud: "Crazy!" "No judgment whatsoever!" His core demand? Stop bombing Beirut and ruin my Iran-U.S. deal.

② Shara’ indeed has motive: HTS is Sunni, Hezbollah is Shia; both sides have deep blood debts from Syria’s civil war. After Assad fell, Syria severed three land supply routes from Iran to Hezbollah, drastically reducing the success rate of weapons transit. Trump seized the moment to slap the “anti-terrorism achievement” label on him—exchanging relief from sanctions and legitimacy endorsement.

③ Syria once stationed troops in Lebanon for 30 years (1976–2005), leaving behind deep trauma. However, Shara’ himself denied any intention of intervening in Lebanon last week.

So this isn’t really about letting Syria enter Beirut—it’s Trump’s “replacement threat” rhetoric, meant to tell Netanyahu clearly: If you don’t listen, I have an alternative.

Netanyahu faces elections in October. Hardliners are already screaming: "Handing Israel’s security over to Syria is unacceptable." The more Trump pressures him, the more Netanyahu will insist on keeping troops in southern Lebanon as a political insurance policy.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868219763378187/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.