Israel: Hezbollah Could Have Seized Power If It Wanted

Al-Manar

"15/05/2008 Once again, the Zionist entity closely watches the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon and gives its own analysis.

Hezbollah proved last week that it is the strongest force in Lebanon and could have seized power if it had wanted to, Israel's military intelligence chief said in remarks published on Thursday.

"Hezbollah did not intend to take control... If it had wanted to, it could have done it," Major General Amos Yadlin said in an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz.

Lebanon was rocked last week by the worst violence since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war between the Lebanese national opposition and the ruling bloc’s militias. But Yadlin said Hezbollah did not want to follow the example of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, which seized power in the Gaza Strip in June by ousting the forces of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Hezbollah, a movement formed after Israel's large-scale invasion of Lebanon in 1982, "understands that if it took power it would have to assume responsibility and expose its numerous weak points," he said.

"Hezbollah proved that it was the strongest power in Lebanon... stronger than the Lebanese army." He said Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, continued to pose a "significant" threat to Israel as its rockets could reach a large part of Israeli territory."