Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. (Credit: AFP archive photo)
BEIRUT — The Israeli army chief of staff, General Herzi Halevi, warned on Tuesday that a war "will be seventy times more difficult for Lebanon and even more for Hezbollah," than it would be for Israel. The remark came after a similar threat was made by the head of Israeli military intelligence, Aharon Haliva, who warned that Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah is "on the verge of making a mistake that could plunge the region into a major war."
Both remarks come a day after Hezbollah flaunted high-profile military exercises in South Lebanon, in which fighters staged a mock attack on an Israeli town, blew up vehicles and fired live ammunition at targets marked with the Star of David.
"Hezbollah is deterred from waging a war against Israel. It believes it understands our way of thinking and feels it has the audacity to confront us in the belief that it would not lead to war. This gives us the opportunity to surprise [them]. We are ready on the northern front," the general warned in comments relayed on Twitter by the Arabic-speaking spokesman of the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee.
Halevi was speaking at a conference in Herzliya organized by the Institute for Policy and Strategy of Reichman University.
"The war in the north will be difficult on the internal front, but we know how to handle it. It will be seventy times more difficult for Lebanon and even more for Hezbollah," he said.
"Iran is using Syria as a ground for a possible confrontation with Israel. Israel will not remain indifferent. I remind Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that the countries that stood by Iran have failed. If he wants reconstruction after the civil war, he must take this into consideration," Halevi continued. The comments come in the wake of Syria's reintegration into the Arab League after 12 years of exile.
Triggering a regional war
Haliva, said Monday that the head of Hezbollah was "on the verge of making a mistake" that could trigger a regional war.
"Hassan Nasrallah is about to make a mistake that could plunge the region into a great war. He is on the verge of committing this mistake from Lebanon or Syria," he remarked, at the same conference. "The risks of an escalation that could degenerate into war are not low ... Let them not be mistaken, we are ready to use force, and we will do everything possible and necessary to restore calm."
The last major confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah was the war of 2006, which resulted in over 1,200 deaths on the Lebanese side (most of which were civilians) and 160 on the Israeli side (mostly soldiers). The demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, known as the 'Blue Line', is overseen by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which was formed in 1978 to regulate and prevent violence between the two parties.
On Tuesday, UNIFIL head General Aroldo Lázaro was received by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Discussions focused on the situation along the Blue Line and cooperation between the Lebanese army and UNIFIL, which both partied stressed was crucial.