Jumblat: National unity more important than US-Israeli dictations

Druze leader Walid Jumblat stressed Friday in an X post that “preserving national unity and the unity of institutions is more important than the arbitrary U.S.-Israeli dictations.”

Jumblat’s stance comes in the wake of Lebanese Army chief General Rodolphe Haykal’s visit to the United States.

Hardline U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham criticized Haykal following a meeting on Thursday for refusing to label Hezbollah a “terrorist organization.”

“I asked him point blank if he believes Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. He said, ‘No, not in the context of Lebanon.’ With that, I ended the meeting. They are clearly a terrorist organization. Hezbollah has American blood on its hands. Just ask the U.S. Marines,” Graham said in a post on X.

“As long as this attitude exists from the Lebanese Armed Forces, I don’t think we have a reliable partner in them,” Graham added.

In addition to the U.S. army chief and senior U.S. military and political officials Haykal met in Washington with U.S. President Donald Trump's senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, Massad Boulos, who described their meeting as "excellent".