As a Jew, My Heart Hurts To See…

WE Online, Tel Aviv –

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Sunday (07/04/2021) offered to help Lebanon as neighboring Israel continues to suffer from a worsening economic crisis.

“As an Israeli, as a Jew and as a human being, it breaks my heart to see images of hungry people on the streets of Lebanon,” Gantz wrote on Twitter.

Also Read: Israeli Defense Minister Sends Threats: We Can Act Anytime On Iran If…

“Israel has offered assistance to Lebanon in the past and even today we are ready to act, and to encourage other countries to lend a helping hand to Lebanon so that it will once again thrive and emerge from a state of crisis,” Gantz continued.

As an Israeli, as a Jew and as a human being, my heart aches seeing the images of people going hungry on the streets of Lebanon.

— ??? ??? – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) July 4, 2021

Lebanon is suffering from a worsening economic crisis, with violence and protests breaking out in cities across the country as basic services collapse. Power outages and gas shortages are now common in the country.

More than half of the Lebanese population now lives in poverty. According to the World Bank, the Lebanese financial crisis is likely to rank in the top 10, perhaps even the top three, the world’s most severe crisis since the mid-1800s.

A World Bank report in early June warned that “increasingly dire socio-economic conditions risk systemic national failure with regional and potentially global effects.”

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has stated in recent weeks that the gasoline crisis in Lebanon could be resolved within days if the country would only accept shipments of Iranian oil, which is under sanctions by international law.

The Hezbollah leader stated that Hezbollah would eventually negotiate directly with Iran’s own government and import Iranian oil through the Port of Beirut, if the Lebanese government did not start “bearing its responsibilities.” Such a move could bring Iranian fuel tankers not far from the Israeli coast.

This is not the first time Israel has offered assistance to Lebanon in times of crisis.