Israel used a high-profile Times Square campaign on Wednesday to draw a distinction between Hezbollah and the Lebanese state, as officials push forward with rare direct talks between the two countries.
"Peace with Lebanon is possible and can happen soon," read a statement issused by Israel's Consul General Ofir Akunis, who is attending peace talks with Lebanon in New York. "The world must destroy Hezbollah, which is an Iranian proxy that has destroyed Lebanon."
Akunis’s statements were accompanied by a prominent campaign in Times Square, where large digital displays showed the Israeli and Lebanese flags side by side.
The visual campaign formed part of the broader Israeli diplomatic push to frame the ongoing talks as an opportunity for normalization, even as the security situation on the ground remains fragile.
Peace with Lebanon is possible and can happen soon
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon progress as a fragile, US-brokered ceasefire holds between Israel and Lebanon despite sporadic clashes in southern Lebanon, where Israel is attempting to establish a buffer zone between the two countries.
These talks mark the first direct political negotiations between the two governments since the failed May 17 Agreement in 1983, over four decades ago.