Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., November 16, 2009 Cheshvan 29, 5770 | | Israel Time: 16:31 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Last update - 22:43 11/11/2009
Hezbollah chief: Obama gives Israel more support than Bush did
By The Associated Press
Tags: Hezbollah, Barack Obama 

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday accused U.S. President Barack Obama of absolute bias in favor of Israel and disregard for the dignity of Arabs and Muslims.

Obama has gone even farther in his military support for Israel than his predecessor, George W. Bush, said Nasrallah.

The remarks were Nasrallah's strongest criticism yet of the American president since Obama took office almost a year ago.
Advertisement
Nasrallah said Obama's earlier statements calling on Israel to freeze
settlement building and then going back on that demand was a tactic agreed on by both Israel and the U.S.

"Obama's initial settlement demand was an American ploy to pass the time and gain Arab sympathy," Nasrallah said, adding any illusions anyone had about Obama being more evenhanded have now collapsed.

"What we see is absolute American commitment to Israeli interests, Israeli conditions, and Israeli security ... while disregarding the dignity or feelings of the Arab and Muslims people and their nations and governments," he said in a speech broadcast to tens of thousands of supporters in a southern Beirut suburb.

Nasrallah, who is influential among supporters of his Shiite group in the Arab world, also warned Israel against waging another war on Lebanon, repeating his pledge to hit back deep within Israel.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a bitter 2006 summer war that killed around 1,200 people in Lebanon and 160 in Israel before it ended with a UN-brokered cease-fire.

Nasrallah also lashed out at a major missile defense exercise staged recently by American and Israeli forces to test technology that would protect Israel from a missile attack. U.S. military officials have described it as the most complete air missile defense system done anywhere in the world.

"The Americans are coming, for the first time in decades and perhaps the first time since Israel's existence, to be a field partner in any confrontation that Israel might impose on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria or Iran," he said.

Nasrallah, who fears an assassination by Israel and is in hiding at a secret location, didn't address comments by Israel's army chief, Maj. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, who said Tuesday that Hezbollah has significantly expanded its ability to strike deep into Israel, with tens of thousands of projectiles that can now reach Israel's largest cities.

He also did not comment on Israel's seizure of a ship last week carrying
weapons it said originated in Iran and were destined for Hezbollah - a claim Hezbollah has already denied.

Related articles:
  • Lebanon condemns four alleged Israel spies to death
  • Washington disappointed: Netanyahu didn't present concrete steps
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    Bibi, be a statesman
    Netanyahu knows exactly what he must do for peace with Syria, Palestinians.
    Unilateral Palestine
    Netanyahu says there is no substitute for talks, appeals to PA to negotiate at once.
      1.   Great! 01:22  |  a wandering Jew 12/11/09
      2.   Interesting if Fallacious Perspective 02:57  |  Mark of Lewiston 12/11/09
      3.   To Hassan 03:17  |  US Voter 12/11/09
      4.   Ah what a refreshing change 04:09  |  John 12/11/09
      5.   the dignity or feelings of the Arab and Muslims people 05:10  |  Sheikh Yahudi 12/11/09
      6.   You gotta love it 06:13  |  Sean 12/11/09
      7.   You don`t need rocket science to work that out! 06:43  |  Sceptic 12/11/09
      8.   something must be terribly wrong 09:07  |  Roger abdelmassih 12/11/09
      9.   bias, so what? hyprocritical 16:22  |  Daniel 16/11/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Date Local Jewish Singles
    Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    14:33 Lieberman: Abbas playing 'double game' with Israel
    14:40 Hamas to Palestinians: End occupation before declaring state
    13:34 Turkey and Israel hold joint drill, in apparent ease of tensions
    11:52 Ahmadinejad: Western nuclear pressure empowers Iran
    15:42 Would Israel accept a state-and-a-half solution?
    15:28 IDF troops hang sign at base: We won't evacuate settlers
    12:38 Survey: 90% of Ethiopian Israelis resist interracial marriage
    22:25 TV ROUND-UP: Netanyahu: No substitute for peace talks; Arnold Schwarzenegger in Israel
    16:27 Woman dies of swine flu as virus' death toll in Israel reaches 48
    05:01 Another Jewish town adds 'Zionist loyalty' to bylaws
    13:54 Kuwait parents reject music classes as un-Islamic, 'Satanic'
    04:36 Jaffa residents ired over lack of Arab street names
    10:42 Late writer Amos Kenan resurfaces as 1952 murder suspect
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved