Holier than thou, now hollow: Hezbollah, Israel, and Tom Barrack’s ignominious fall

The Middle East is once again standing at the lip of an abyss. Hezbollah refuses to disarm. Israel vows it will force the issue. Washington, amplifying its threats through its envoy Tom Barrack, has delivered an ultimatum that sounds less like diplomacy and more like a loaded gun placed on the negotiating table. But beneath this geopolitical standoff lies another implosion—moral, not military: the sanctimonious unravelling of Tom Barrack himself, whose name now flickers through the sprawling Epstein files. In a region accustomed to hypocrisy, this one still manages to astound. Hezbollah’s defiance, Israel’s fury Barrack’s warning in Beirut was unambiguous: Hezbollah must surrender its weapons before the year’s end or “Israel will do it for them.” It was a […]