Draw down or second front? Blinken back in Israel amid Lebanon escalation Second front or wind it down? The New Year begins with yet another trip by the U.S. Secretary of State to Israel. What message does Antony Blinken carry for Benjamin Netanyahu? As the war in Gaza enters its fourth month, we will ask about Washington’s calls for restraint and the potential for escalation with Lebanon, this in the wake of last week’s air strike that killed a senior Hamas official in a Hezbollah stronghold of Beirut.