Israel worried at Saniora's "government"; Livni calls for not supporting it publicly so as not to weaken it

Al-Manar

"Israel said Sunday it was following events in Lebanon "with the utmost attention", while Washington has denounced what it termed as "threats aimed at toppling Lebanon's legitimate and democratically elected government". Tel Aviv is on high political alert as the Lebanese opposition is apparently determined to topple the unconstitutional government of Fouad Saniora and form a national unity government. Haaretz daily said that Israeli senior officials are concerned that if Saniora's government is toppled then the "sole Israeli achievement in the recent war", according to Haaretz, would go with the wind. A number of Israeli ministers stressed Israel should not stand silent to what they described as a reversal of the situation in Lebanon. For his part, Defense Minister Amir Peretz asked Israeli intelligence services to closely follow up the situation in Lebanon. Trade Minister Eli Yishai said, "What is going on in Lebanon forces us to prepare even for the possibility of a coup, we must prepare for any scenario and must not stay indifferent." Foreign Minister Tsibi Livni called on Israeli officials not to publicly support Saniora's government so as not to weaken it. "