Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s visit to the White House is the first by a sitting Lebanese leader in 17 years, aimed at securing US pressure on Israel to implement a June framework agreement calling for Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

The agreement is heavily asymmetrical: It sets no firm deadline for Israeli withdrawal, conditions it on Hezbollah disarming (which the group rejects), and leaves implementation largely to a US-brokered committee, with little direct Lebanese-Israeli coordination.

Aoun faces significant domestic and external challenges: He must sell the deal to a divided Lebanese public while Netanyahu has little incentive to withdraw before Israeli elections, and there is limited evidence that Washington is willing to impose real costs on Israel to enforce the agreement.

Joseph Aoun will on Tuesday become the first sitting Lebanese head of state to walk into the Oval Office in 17 years — the last being Michel Sleiman, who was received by Barack Obama in 2009. Both the symbolism and the risks are real. Aoun arrives carrying a framework agreement, agreed to with Israel last month through US mediation, which promises an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah’s disarmament. He needs Donald Trump to turn that promise into something concrete. However, he may leave with a warm photo op and very little else.

The asymmetry at the heart of this trip is worth stating plainly. The framework Aoun signed with Israel in late June sets no deadline for an Israeli exit from Lebanese territory. Withdrawal is instead conditioned on Hezbollah disarming and dismantling its infrastructure — a demand the group has flatly rejected. The Lebanese army has shown no appetite to enforce that condition.

Compounding the problem, the army has refused to coordinate directly with Israeli forces on implementation, leaving a........

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