I am not pretending to be happy with the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire framework brokered by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The deal assumes Lebanon will disarm Hezbollah, even though Hezbollah is deeply embedded inside Lebanon’s political, military, and security systems. That is not strategy. That is fantasy.

But here is the irony: because Israel reportedly only withdraws from southern Lebanon after Hezbollah is fully disarmed, Israel now has justification to remain there indefinitely. Since Hezbollah will not voluntarily disarm, and Lebanon will never dismantle it, this creates the foundation for a permanent Israeli security zone in southern Lebanon, with the approval of Lebanon and the international community. That is a huge coup for Prime Minister Netanyahu.