Middle East News
Israel calls on next Lebanese government to stop arms to Hezbollah
By DPA
Jun 8, 2009, 8:35 GMT

Jerusalem - Israel called Monday on the next Lebanese government to stop the smuggling of arms to Hezbollah via Syria and the sea.

'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 Foreign Ministry said in a statement sent to journalists.

The next Lebanese government, demanded the statement, must act to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, which ended a 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. The resolution, among others, called for the disarmament of the Iranian-backed radical Shiite movement.

The statement noted that Israel had been following the Lebanese elections 'with great interest,' along with 'all of the states in the region and the international community.'

'Israel considers the Lebanese government responsible for any military or otherwise hostile activity that emanates from its territory,' it warned.

Israeli government officials reacted formally to the first results of the elections by saying they were not interfering in the Lebanese democratic process. Off the record, however, they expressed satisfaction, even relief.

A victory for Hezbollah would have created a 'very serious problem' for Israel and the need to treat the Lebanese government as a 'terrorist entitity' financed by Iran, one senior official told Israel Radio on condition of anonymity.

Transportation Minister Israel Katz, of the ruling, hardline Likud party, called the triumph of pro-Western forces 'certainly important news for the region and also for Israel.'

He demanded that any modernization of the Lebanese Army with US help be accompanied by the disarmament of militias.

Tzahi Hanegbi, the chairman of the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, said he was 'optimistic' because the election results indicated a reversal of a 'trend' in which radical Islam had been gaining in strength in the Middle East over the past years, at the expense of 'the pragmatic axis.'

Moderate states like Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt must receive a 'boost in self-confidence' as a result of the Lebanese elections, Hanegbi, of opposition, centrist Kadima party, told the radio.