Netanyahu says Israel won't let Hizbullah take over Ghajar

PM tells Italian foreign minister Israel intends to pull out of north side of disputed border village, instate stable regime.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
ghajar 311 AP (photo credit: Associated Press [file])
ghajar 311 AP
(photo credit: Associated Press [file])
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Monday that Israel will not allow Hizbullah to take over the disputed border town of Ghajar.
The prime minister's comments come a week after his cabinet approved Israel's withdrawal from the town's northern half.
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Netanyahu said Israel intended to "pull out of the north side of the village and instate a regime there that would not allow the vacuum Hizbullah could use to take over the area."
During the meeting Netanyahu also thanked Frattini for the aid Israel received from Italy in working toward the Ghajar pullout deal.
The security cabinet last week approved a plan to unilaterally pull the IDF out of the northern part of the northern village, located on the Lebanese border.
In so doing, Israel has abided by Security Council Resolution 425 from 1978, under which the UN, in 2000, determined that the Israeli withdrawal line from Lebanon – known as the Blue Line – should run through Ghajar.
Its residents, however, had hoped to remain united under Israeli sovereignty.
Najib Khatib, a village spokesman, complained that no one had spoken with them about the new withdrawal plan.
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.