Lebanon papers: Plot against IDF chief is proof of Hezbollah might

An alleged plot to assassinate IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi took center stage Tuesday in many of the newspapers in Lebanon affiliated with Hezbollah.

As-Safir reported on its front page of the arrest of Rawi Sultani from Tira, and described the incident as leading to revelations on the "long reach of Hezbollah, which shocked Israel's defense establishment."

According to the newspaper's Israel affairs expert, Helmi Musa, this is the first time since the assassination of Hezbollah's terrorist mastermind Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus that the calm and quiet that has characterized Lebanon's resistance, a euphemism for Hezbollah, was false and does not reflect the long arm of the organization inside Israel.

Evidence of this "activism" is the choice to select a high level target as a response to the assassination of Mughniyeh, for which Hezbollah blames Israel. Israel has not admitted to having any connection with his death.

The newspaper also referred to the recent arrests of an IDF soldier suspected of stealing the chief of staff's credit card information, and pointed to serious shortcomings in the security regime surrounding senior defense establishment officials in Israel.

Al-Akbar, another Lebanese daily, described the incident as yet another chapter in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, adding that even though the Shi'ite organization wanted to avoid exposure of the affair, it reflects that Israel is increasingly wary of the "long reach of Hezbollah" and attempts to target very senior figures of Israel's leadership.

In sharp contrast to the reports in Lebanon, Arab Israelis have tried to distance themselves from Sultani.

"The position of the Arab community has always been to be politically active within a legal framework and we expect that Palestinian groups and Hezbollah will not take advantage of the naivete of Arab youth for aims that are contrary to the law," a Balad activist told Haaretz Tuesday.