Israel PM Warns Against Including Hizbullah in Lebanon Government
Israel warned on Monday that the Lebanese government as a whole would be blamed for any attack from its territory if Hizbullah is part of the new government.
"If Hizbullah joins the government it will be clear that the Lebanese government will be held responsible for any attack coming from its territory against Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
"The moment they are part of the government, the sovereign Lebanese government is responsible. I hope we will not need such responses," he told journalists during a visit to southern Israel.
There has been an escalating war of words in recent days between Israel and Hizbullah, which fought a 34-day war in 2006 that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Lebanon and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
Lebanese prime-minister designate Saad Hariri has yet to form a government two months after a parliamentary election won by the Western-backed coalition that defeated a Hizbullah-led alliance.