Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is calling for continued, intense strikes against Lebanon, against the Trump administration’s wishes, declaring that “a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep” for every Israeli death.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir issued a statement on Friday calling for the Israeli military to “go berserk” in Lebanon, inflicting massive, disproportionate damage on the country against the wishes of the Trump administration. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn!” – Itamar Ben-Gvir 📰 DETAIL: Hezbollah, a proxy of the Iranian regime, operates in Lebanon, despite being outlawed by the country’s official government. Iran has pressed hard for Lebanon to be included in ceasefire deals and peace agreements with the U.S., but the Israelis have been reluctant to wind down operations in their northern neighbor, having committed to seizing a portion of the country’s south shortly after the outbreak of the Iran war. “With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit. All of Lebanon must burn,” Ben-Gvir wrote in a statement shared to X (formerly Twitter), adding: “In the Middle East, you don’t win with measured responses and restraint—you need to go berserk. To obliterate.” 🎯 IMPACT: Ben-Gvir’s remarks are a direct challenge to President Donald J. Trump, who said at the G7 summit in France this week that he was unhappy with Israel’s “vicious” tactics in Lebanon. “Too many people are being killed, and you don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody, because there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they’re not all Hezbollah, that I can tell you,” the President said. Vice President J.D. Vance also warned elements in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, likely including Ben-Gvir, against undermining American peace efforts in the Middle East, saying, “Two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars… wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.” |
על כל דמעה של אמא ישראלית, אלף אמהות לבנוניות צריכות לבכות. לבנון כולה צריכה לבעור!
עם כל הכבוד לאמריקאים, ישראל חייבת להבהיר לעולם כולו שדם בנינו וביטחון אזרחנו איננו הפקר. לבנון כולה צריכה לבעור. חובתנו העליונה היא להגן על אזרחי ישראל ועל חיילי צה״ל, והמחויבות הזו קודמת לכל…
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) June 19, 2026
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