With US-Saudi backing, can Lebanon’s new president rein in Hezbollah?
With top general’s election, the United States and Saudi Arabia aim to draw Lebanon further from Iran. To do that, a new government has to convince Hezbollah that their days of armed resistance are over.
WASHINGTON — The Lebanese parliament’s election of armed forces commander Gen. Joseph Aoun as the country’s 14th president on Thursday ended two years of political impasse, marking a new step toward government institutional reforms required to obtain foreign funding to rebuild a country that has been ravaged by corruption, mismanagement and war.
Facilitating Aoun’s win was concerted diplomatic pressure by Saudi and American officials, who have long sought the chance to weaken Hezbollah’s grip and draw Lebanon out of Iran’s orbit.
Senior Biden administration officials saw Israel’s elimination of Hezbollah’s top leaders amid fallout from the Gaza war as an opportunity to persuade alternative political figures in Beirut to come together to form a new government. Israel’s military invasion of Lebanon late last year set off alarms in other Arab capitals but ultimately crippled Hezbollah both militarily and politically.
Analysts say Aoun’s election likely wouldn't have been possible without US-Saudi alignment on his candidacy, which was led on the ground in Beirut by US envoy Amos Hochstein and Riyadh’s Yazid bin Farhan. French diplomats also joined in the final stages of the negotiations leading to Thursday's breakthrough. Riyadh’s ambassador in Beirut, Waleed Bukhari, was in the parliamentary chamber for the final vote, underscoring the kingdom's potential role in shaping Aoun's presidency and in foreign development aid for Lebanon.
