Former Lebanese Minister Of The Environment Wiam Wahhab: Destroying Israel Is Unrealistic; I Would Not Send My Son To Fight Israel; Some People May Think That They Would Go To Paradise, But For Me, Nothing Is Worth Losing My Son

In a November 19, 2024 interview with Batoul Abdallah on her YouTube channel, former Lebanese Minister of the Environment Wiam Wahhab stated that the idea of destroying Israel is unrealistic. He described Israel as an "advance post" of America and the West, questioning how its removal could be achieved. Wahhab advocated for a one-state solution for Palestine, where the future of Jews and Palestinians would be decided through democratic processes. He expressed his opposition to the conflict with Israel, including Lebanese fighters confronting Israel to support Hamas, stating he would not allow his son to go to the battlefront to fight Israel alongside Hizbullah, because many Hizbullah fighters, including Nasrallah, had been martyred, and it is not worth risking his life to be targeted by an Israeli airstrike. Wahhab emphasized that nothing is worth losing his son. In February 2024, Wahhab had stated that Israel would not dare to enter an "open war" with Lebanon or conduct a ground invasion, knowing that it would be "destroyed" by Hizbullah and its allies.

Wiam Wahhab: "The slogan of destroying Israel is not a realistic slogan. We should not be fooling ourselves. This is not a realistic slogan. [Israel] is an advance post of America and the West. How can we remove it? We should aim for a one-state [solution], and let democracy decide between the Jews and the Palestinians in the future. What more can we do? Are we supposed to tether down the region for another 100 years to the slogan of destroying Israel? I do not think anyone would join us under this slogan."

Interviewer: "If your son tells you today that he wants to go the battlefront, to fight the Israeli enemy, would you let him?"

Wiam Wahhab: "No, to be honest. "

Interviewer: "Why?"

Wiam Wahhab: "I don’t want to lie to you."

Interviewer: "But why?

Wiam Wahhab: "It requires a long explanation, but the answer is no. I won’t let him.

Interviewer: "Is your son worth more than those men [from Hizbullah]?"

Wiam Wahhab: "It's not that. They follow a certain path, but I was against the war to support [Hamas]. Am I supposed to lie to you? There are many martyrs, and even Nasrallah himself was martyred, but I would not send my son [to fight]. Why would I send him under these circumstances? So that he would be detected by an airplane as soon as he crosses the Awali river?"

Interviewer: "So that he could defend his land and his country…"

Wiam Wahhab: "I would not send him. Honestly."

Interviewer: "You do not raise your children on the defense of the homeland?"

Wiam Wahhab: "Of course I do, but I do not view the defense of the homeland the same way as you."

[…]

"Some people may think that they would go to paradise, but for me, nothing is worth losing me son. In all honesty. "