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Last update - 09:22 11/05/2008 Only through the sights of its guns By Zvi Bar'el Tags: Lebanon, Hezbollah Lebanon is a hair's breadth away from civil war. But even if a lull is reached, it will not last for long in this divided country. In one of his more militant speeches to the domestic populace last week, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that the Lebanese government's decisions "are a declaration of war on Hezbollah." Nasrallah was referring to a government decision to dismantle the private telephone network his organization set up in southern Lebanon and other parts of the country, and a decision to dismiss the official in charge of security at Beirut's airport because he allowed surveillance cameras to be installed there. That official, General Wafik Shoukeir, is a Hezbollah loyalist, and his dismissal is considered a blow to the organization's ability to monitor what is happening in the airport. In response to the Lebanese government's "declaration of war," Nasrallah has himself launched a war against the government, which he considers an illegal entity. Within hours, Hezbollah managed to take over government posts in western Beirut, leaving the majority leaders trapped in their homes. One can assume that any compromise attempt proposed today at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers will need to take Nasrallah's new position of power into account. That is the heart of Lebanon's internal political struggle, which should greatly concern Israel. Advertisement The recent events in Lebanon are not isolated occurrences, unrelated to the results of the Second Lebanon War. Israel continues to star as a "political side" in Lebanon, with Nasrallah continuing to use Israel to goad the government, accusing it of collaborating with Israel and the United States. He even attributed the installation of Hezbollah's telephone network to a military need: protecting Hezbollah outposts from Israeli wiretapping or damage to the wireless communication networks. As is his wont, he cited an Israeli report - the Winograd report on the Second Lebanon War - which he said determined that the signal corps constitutes one of the key elements of the war. This naturally leads to the conclusion that in damaging Hezbollah's military instruments, the Lebanese government is damaging the country's security. Nasrallah's rhetoric in the internal Lebanese dispute is not the important point, but it does once again portray Hezbollah not as an opposition organization, but as a force competing with the Lebanese army. Nasrallah comes off as someone who intends to rack up all the political achievements he feels he deserves. It seems he will not rest until the current Lebanese government is gone, to be replaced by a unity government in which his supporters have veto power over important decisions. Thus, while Israel continues to view Hezbollah as nothing but a militant organization that can be crushed by a military operation, it is ignoring the possibility that Lebanon will shortly be run by that very organization. In effect, one can say even now that the person running Lebanon's domestic politics is Nasrallah - no less, and perhaps more so, than the government. Seeing Hezbollah solely as an organization is quite similar to Israel seeing Hamas as an organization, while ignoring the public foundation on which both groups rely. The result is that Israel prefers to stick with counting Hezbollah's Katyusha rockets, or Hamas' Qassams, as the sole index of the threat those groups pose. In order to intensify the threat, Israel terms both organizations as "Iranian," thereby fulfilling its obligation to issue an alert. There is no argument over the fact that the amount of missiles and rockets is not just a potential threat - both organizations use them against Israeli targets. But the way that Israel has dealt with these groups thus far proves that military solutions alone are not practical. Hezbollah was not weakened by the Second Lebanon War. Instead, the war made it even stronger, both militarily and politically. And the military offensives in Gaza have not made much of an impression on Hamas, which holds the key to continued political negotiations. In both cases, Israel has a political alternative. If it so greatly fears Iran's expansion into the Mediterranean, Israel can advance talks with Syria, and if it is concerned by a Hamas takeover of the political process, Israel would do better to move forward with negotiations with the Palestinian Authority - or at least to create conditions in Gaza to relieve the threat posed by Hamas. Israel sees the political threat developing in Lebanon and in the territories, but is prepared to respond only through the sights of its guns. Bookmark to del.icio.us   A top priority Barack Obama: We will keep Israel's security a priority. Tale of a key Cartoon film on Nakba describes Jews as 'enemies of homeland'.   1.   JUMLATT WAS THE FAILED ARCHITECT 09:48  |  indrajaya 11/05/08   2.   Hizbollah has no need or desire to fight other Lebanese 11:22  |  Natallie Durson 11/05/08   3.   bargaining chip 11:36  |  northern neighbor 11/05/08   4.   Leftist moron 12:09  |  Dror 11/05/08   5.   Hezballah. 12:18  |  David Nigel Braham 11/05/08   6.   Hizballah 12:34  |  Ralph 11/05/08   7.   #2 Hezbollah is GOOD for the Lebanese 13:11  |  nina 11/05/08   8.   JUMBLAT AND HARRIRI are traitors 13:20  |  VIPER 11/05/08   9.   hezbaboolboolim 13:25  |  Dror 11/05/08   10.   Natalie Durson or is it Pinnochio? 13:33  |  H 11/05/08   11.   THE VIRTUOUS AND THE VICIOUS 13:33  |  Mohamed MALLECK 11/05/08   12.   Syria keeps Lebanon, Israel keeps Golan 14:08  |  Herbert Kaine 11/05/08   13.   brilliant advice, as usual from a brilliant paper 14:24  |  Leon Rosgarten 11/05/08   14.   Lebanon:Who am I? 14:27  |  Ronnie Wolman 11/05/08   15.   Lebanon 14:36  |  Ralph 11/05/08   16.   # 14, RONNIE WOLMAN 15:18  |  indrajaya 11/05/08   17.   For Leon Rosgarten # 13 15:20  |  Clickfool 11/05/08   18.   Hezbollah will not "run" Lebanon. Not while the U.S.A. has any 15:21  |  strength 11/05/08   19.   Mohamed Malleck 15:33  |  H 11/05/08   20.   No one ignore the possibility of an Hizbollah State 15:34  |  Daniel 11/05/08   21.   Israel and its neighbours. 15:48  |  sandra chitayat 11/05/08   22.   All the more reason to keep Sheba farms and the Golan 15:54  |  Albert amato 11/05/08   23.   Response to Herbert Kaine. 16:07  |  sandra chitayat 11/05/08   24.   17 Clickfool to Leon Rosgarten 16:25  |  Daniel (Swiss) 11/05/08   25.   indrajaya: Embracing the Unembraceable 16:28  |  Ronnie Wolman 11/05/08   26.   Lebanon set ablaze by Iran and Syria 16:49  |  Dror 11/05/08   27.   # 25, RONNIE WOLMAN 17:01  |  indrajaya 11/05/08   28.   Relax and party 17:27  |  Montrealer 11/05/08   29.   Clickfool. 17:28  |  David Nigel Braham 11/05/08   30.   indrajaya: Responsibility is Mine 17:33  |  Ronnie Wolman 11/05/08   31.   indrajaya:Imperfect well Intentioned Countries 17:46  |  Ronnie Wolman 11/05/08   32.   # 30, RONNIE WOLMAN 18:05  |  indrajaya 11/05/08   33.   It`s like drug-addiction, Clicky, don`t you see? 18:10  |  Freethinker 11/05/08   34.   UN Resolution 1701 BETRAYED Israel, Lebanon & the Free World 18:32  |  Linda Rivera 11/05/08   35.   Artical is a pipe dream 18:34  |  Ron 11/05/08   36.   #33 Freethinker" re Clickfloo" 19:10  |  H 11/05/08   37.   I dont know why i read this drivel 19:52  |  Mayer 11/05/08   38.   LEFTISTS ARE SIMPLY FOOLS 20:05  |  Steve 11/05/08   39.   # 19 - H : MURDERED 38 PEOPLE? MAYBE NASRALLAH ALSO KILLED HARIRI 20:06  |  Mohamed MALLECK 11/05/08   40.   let them stew 20:20  |  english jew 11/05/08   41.   indrajaya: Chicken and Eggs 20:33  |  Ronnie Wolman 11/05/08   42.   Who`s stewing? Oh, woe is me, nobody cares nobody likes me... 20:47  |  Please, 11/05/08   43.   #39 Mohamed Malleck 21:11  |  H 11/05/08   44.   For Daniel (Swiss) # 24 22:17  |  Clickfool 11/05/08   45.   IRAN already runs Lebanon via Hezballah. 22:45  |  Fortuna Benmayor 11/05/08   46.   H #36 23:04  |  Michael T 11/05/08   47.   Durson #2 23:09  |  Michael T 11/05/08   48.   Little Israel can do, except 23:52  |  Mark Lincoln 11/05/08   49.   Bigger stick syndrom 01:07  |  Baz Mann 12/05/08   50.   Nasrallah killed 38 people just to show that he could 01:47  |  Sima 12/05/08

Read & React Lebanon PM: Hezbollah is worse than Israel Responses: 304 Gideon Levy: PM probe raises serious questions about U.S. Jewry-Israel relations Responses: 90 Tales from a N.Y. cabby: 'My first wife was Muslim, my second was Jewish' Responses: 56 More Headlines 03:11 Police suspect money transferred to PM outside campaign season 00:47 Kadima members berate Livni for silence over Olmert probe 00:39 Ex-IDF Chief: Hezbollah rule in Lebanon may help Israel beat it 02:50 Lieberman: I'd join Netanyahu gov't if I received defense post 01:27 Barak: We strive toward peace, but IDF ready for any challenge 02:06 In Talansky case, Olmert's bonds with cronies beginning to crack 00:50 Jerusalem planners okay route of new bridge to Mugrabi Gate 02:49 Despite construction freeze, winery rises near W. Bank outpost 23:07 Lebanon PM: Hezbollah did to Beirut what Israel didn't dare 17:08 Cartoon film on Nakba describes Jews as 'enemies of homeland' 20:54 Israel relaxes criteria for Holocaust survivors' stipends 22:43 Junior lecturers to disrupt studies in protest against work conditions Previous Editions Select Day 11 may 09 may 08 may 07 may 06 may 05 may 04 may 02 may 01 may 30 apr 29 apr 28 apr

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