Hezbollah celebrates Democratic wins in US, anti-Netanyahu bloc’s gains in Israel

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem hails electoral setbacks for Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu as a victory for Iran’s allies.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem celebrated the electoral setbacks suffered by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, describing the results as a significant opportunity for the Iranian-backed terrorist organization and its regional allies.

Speaking during a televised address marking Hezbollah’s annual Martyrs’ Day, Qassem argued that the election results in the United States and Israel demonstrated the weakening of both leaders and could undermine their efforts to confront Iran and disarm Hezbollah.

“Today, we have a good opportunity. Trump was defeated in the elections,” Qassem declared, describing the Republican Party’s losses in last week’s US midterm elections as an “earthquake.”

The Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the November 3 elections, delivering a major setback to Trump’s administration amid public dissatisfaction with the ongoing war against Iran.

“Donald Trump’s project was defeated, and Benjamin Netanyahu is broken,” Qassem said.

The Hezbollah leader also welcomed the results of Israel’s October 27 Knesset elections, in which Netanyahu’s governing bloc lost its parliamentary majority, leaving the prime minister struggling to secure another term.

Netanyahu’s political opponents have since been given the first opportunity to assemble a new governing coalition, with President Isaac Herzog tasking Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot with attempting to form a government.

Qassem said that the results in both countries were a victory for Iran and its network of regional allies, arguing that political opposition to the American and Israeli leadership could limit their ability to continue military operations and diplomatic pressure against the Iranian axis.

The Hezbollah chief suggested that Lebanon should take advantage of the changing political situation to resist American demands for the dismantling of his organization’s military capabilities.

His remarks came amid an increasingly contentious dispute between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government over the implementation of a US-brokered agreement with Israel.

The framework agreement, signed in June following months of fighting, provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon alongside the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

However, the terrorist organization has refused to surrender its arsenal while Israeli forces remain inside Lebanon, creating a major obstacle to implementing the agreement.

“There is no exclusivity for the resistance’s weapons and no disarmament under the umbrella of the Israeli occupation,” Qassem declared.

He accused Israel of seeking to disarm Hezbollah as a prelude to occupying additional Lebanese territory and establishing settlements there, a claim disputed by Israel, which has said its military presence is necessary to prevent renewed attacks.

Qassem also criticized the Lebanese government’s acceptance of the American-backed framework, describing the agreement as offering “all free concessions” to Israel without securing meaningful benefits for Lebanon.

He urged Lebanese authorities to abandon the current agreement and pursue a different negotiating arrangement.

The Hezbollah leader also denounced foreign pressure on Lebanon to disarm his organization, singling out several Western embassies over their calls for an independent investigation into Hezbollah-linked explosives seized by Lebanese authorities in October.

He called on Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry to summon the ambassadors and warn them against interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

Despite criticizing the Lebanese government’s policies, Qassem praised the Lebanese Armed Forces and called for increased state funding for the military, while rejecting foreign assistance tied to demands for Hezbollah’s disarmament.