Former CIA and State Department counterterrorism officer Larry Johnson breaks down Netanyahu's press tour ahead of his Trump meeting. And the claims don't survive contact with the facts.
Netanyahu told reporters that Christian villages in Lebanon have asked to be annexed by Israel, that Hezbollah threatens Lebanese Christians, and that criticism of Israel equals anti-Americanism.
Johnson's response is direct: there are no documented reports of Hezbollah targeting Christians. Lebanon has a Christian president and a population that's nearly a third Christian, with no sectarian conflict between Hezbollah and Christian communities on record.
Netanyahu also claimed the online shift against Israel is being driven by bot farms tied to three unnamed countries. Johnson's estimate on how many Americans actually buy that framing: 35 to 45%, with a majority now taking the opposite view, a reversal Johnson calls unprecedented for U.S. public opinion on Israel.
On the funeral turnout, 9 to 10 million people in 94-degree heat, Johnson's read is straightforward: the government has decades of experience mobilizing crowds, and a meaningful share of Iranians genuinely respected Khamenei. Both things can be true, and neither means the regime is stable long-term.
So is the shift in US sentiment on Israel a temporary reaction to this war, or has it crossed into something permanent that reshapes the relationship for years?
@newsonof
