Israel campaigns to keep Hezbollah out of Lebanese government
The Foreign Ministry has told its ambassadors to take up the issue with foreign governments and relevant officials.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFSUPPORTERS OF Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah display Hezbollah and Lebanese flags in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley. (photo credit: REUTERS)
The Foreign Ministry has embarked on a diplomatic campaign to sway the international community to prevent the inclusion of Hezbollah in the next Lebanese government.It sent a message to this effect to its ambassadors worldwide, asking them to take up the issue with foreign governments.The contents of the directive, issued in response to Friday’s resignation by Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri, were published this week on Channel 10.“We are urgently asking you to contact the Foreign Ministry [in Jerusalem] and other relevant government officials,” the directive read.It referenced Hariri’s statement upon resigning that Iran and its proxy Hezbollah was sowing strife in the Arab world, including his country.The move has pulled Lebanon back to the forefront of a regional struggle between the Sunni monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the Shi’ite Islamist Iranian government.The Foreign Ministry urged its envoys to emphasize that “Hariri’s resignation and the reasons that led to it illustrate once more the destructive nature of Iran and Hezbollah and their danger to the stability of Lebanon and the countries of the region.”The argument that Hezbollah’s inclusion in the Lebanese government would stabilize the country has been proven wrong, the Foreign Ministry said in its directive.Lebanese politicians cannot make decisions that are in the best interest of their country, the Foreign Ministry said.They have effectively “been turned into hostages forced under physical threat to promote the interests of a foreign power – Iran – even if it endangers their country,” the Foreign Ministry said according to Channel 10.As part of its bid to urge the international community to block Iran, the envoys were also asked to support Saudi Arabia’s battle against the Houthi militias in Yemen.The US already backs Saudi Arabia in this battle.
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