Barely had the U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon been signed on Friday when a sense of unease spread among some Lebanese. Many feared a backlash from Hezbollah and Amal supporters, which have already repeatedly voiced their rejection of the process underway in Washington. For now, the popular reaction remains contained, but a tense calm prevails and the lingering question is the following: is the government under threat?Whenever asked, representatives of Amal and Hezbollah reiterate their rejection of the agreement, recalling Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s statement that it is "stillborn and will collapse on its own.” What these representatives do not say openly is that, in their view, this agreement cannot be implemented. For that reason, there is no need to provoke unrest to derail it, at the risk of pushing the...
Barely had the U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon been signed on Friday when a sense of unease spread among some Lebanese. Many feared a backlash from Hezbollah and Amal supporters, which have already repeatedly voiced their rejection of the process underway in Washington. For now, the popular reaction remains contained, but a tense calm prevails and the lingering question is the following: is the government under threat?Whenever asked, representatives of Amal and Hezbollah reiterate their rejection of the agreement, recalling Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s statement that it is "stillborn and will collapse on its own.” What these representatives do not say openly is that, in their view, this agreement cannot be implemented. For that reason, there is no need to provoke unrest to derail it, at the risk of pushing...
