Skip to main content

Is Hezbollah Losing Its Grip?

The drone sent by Hezbollah to Israel must be interpreted as an outcry for survival by its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, writes Shlomi Eldar. 
A child waves a Hezbollah flag as she holds pictures of martyrs as Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a rally to commemorate Martyrs' Day in Beirut, February 16, 2013.  REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DVC2

Allow me to let you in on a little suspicion I've had for quite some time now. Given Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's well-known propensity for macho bombast, I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that he is overcompensating for some deep sense of insecurity. That’s the only plausible explanation as to why he gave the order this week to send another drone toward Israel. The pilotless aircraft was inevitably shot down 8 km (5 miles) before it reached the Israeli coastline.

This wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Half a year ago [Oct. 6, 2012] a Hezbollah drone launched from Lebanon was shot down south of Hebron by an Israeli F-16. Hezbollah nevertheless celebrated this supposed advance in technology and intelligence. So did Iran. They even claimed that the drone managed to take aerial photographs of key strategic sites in Israel, including the Dimona nuclear reactor, before it was shot down.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.