Tel Aviv [Israel], July 30 (ANI/TPS): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s escalating rhetoric in his remarks at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday.
“And as for Nasrallah’s bunker threats – we are not impressed by them. On test day, he will find us standing together, shoulder-to-shoulder. Nasrallah also knows that it is not worthwhile for him and it is not worthwhile for Lebanon to put us to the test.
Nasrallah, leader of the Iran-backed terror group, said in a speech on Saturday that “We are ready for any option and we will not remain silent in the face of any stupid act.”
Hezbollah has not removed an outpost it established on the Israeli side of the border in April, and has threatened violence if Israel takes action against it. The tents in an area south of the border but north of an Israeli security barrier near Mount Dov where the border converges with Syria. The outpost is also a few hundred meters away from a Hezbollah position on the Lebanese side of the border. The encampment is in an isolated area and not in proximity to any Israeli communities.
The Blue Line demarcating the 120 km-long border was created in 2000 by UN cartographers to verify Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, which the UN Security Council later certified as complete. The border runs from Rosh HaNikra on the Mediterranean coast to Mount Dov, where the Israeli-Lebanese border converges with Syria. Hezbollah says it does not recognize the Blue Line and disputes numerous points along the border.
Nasrallah has said on several occasions that Israeli social divisions over the government’s judicial overhaul initiative are a sign of weakness. A number of Israeli military reservists have said they will not show up for reserve duty after the government passed the “reasonableness bill” on Monday.
The Israel Defence Force’s General Staff is now waiting to see if reservists follow through on their threats.
In other remarks, Netanyahu also vowed to push legislation allowing suppliers to directly import products to Israel from Europe as part of a bid to lower the cost of living.
The Prime Minister also touted an initiative to link peripheral communities to Israel’s center with a 100 billion shekel (USD 27 billion) high speed train project. (ANI/TPS)
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