Israel Calls on New Lebanon Gov’t to Disarm Hezbollah

Hanan Awarekeh Readers Number : 1097

08/06/2009 It seems that Israel was on its nerves waiting for the outcomes of the Lebanese parliamentary elections more than the Lebanese themselves. Thus as soon as the unofficial results of the polls started to be announced on Monday dawn, Israeli officials rushed to give their advices to the “new Lebanon government” concerning the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Islamic resistance in the country. An Israeli cabinet minister called on Monday for Hezbollah to be disarmed after what he called “the defeat of its alliance in Lebanon’s election”. “The victory of pro-Western forces in Lebanon over the pro-Iranian and pro-Syrian forces led by (Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan) Nasrallah signals important tidings for the region and Israel,” Israeli Transport Minister Yisrael Katz told public radio. “We must now move to disarm Hezbollah in accordance with agreements made in the past,” he said. Likud MK in Israeli Knesset and former Israeli occupation army Spokeswoman Miri Regev said that “Hezbollah’s loss” in the Lebanese parliamentary elections is considered a direct result of the 2006 July War. It is worth to mention that the Lebanese national opposition kept its seats in the Parliament and nothing was changed and Hezbollah’s candidates have all won the elections. In July 2006, Israel launched an aggressive war against Lebanon where it was defeated by the Islamic resistance fighters. Israeli officials are still examining the reasons for that defeat till now and trying to enhance their “air defense and home front” since then. Moreover on Monday, the Israeli foreign ministry said that the new government in Lebanon must act to prevent attacks from its territory. “It is incumbent upon any government that is formed in Beirut to ensure that Lebanon will not be used as a base for violence against the state of Israel and against Israelis,” the Israeli ministry said in a statement. “The government of Lebanon must act to strengthen the country’s stability and security, to stop arms smuggling into its territory and to implement the relevant Security Council resolutions. Israel considers the Lebanese government responsible for any military or otherwise hostile activity that emanates from its territory.” HEZBOLLAH WARNS AGAINST TOUCHING ITS WEAPONS Meanwhile, Hezbollah warned the March 14 that won Lebanon’s election that its weapons arsenal was not a subject open to discussion. “The majority must commit not to question our role as a resistance party, the legitimacy of our weapons arsenal and the fact that Israel is an enemy state,” head of the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad told AFP.