Netanyahu and Nasrallah at a standoff
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched another verbal confrontation against Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, but is unlikely to opt for a preemptive strike on Hezbollah missiles.
The ongoing duel between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is beginning to repeat itself. Netanyahu gave his latest Hezbollah-related performance in his annual address to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 29, videotaped several days earlier in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu presented his viewers with what he described as a storage depot of Hezbollah missiles in the heart of Beirut’s Janah neighborhood, saying it was located next to a gas company warehouse and a service station. Netanyahu’s meticulously prepared PowerPoint was convincing. It included skillfully presented photos purported to be the entrance to the missile site next to the entrance of the gas warehouse, as well as a personal appeal to the residents of Lebanon explaining how Hezbollah and its Iranian patrons were endangering their well-being.
Netanyahu masterfully leveraged the horrific explosion at the Beirut port the previous month as only he knows how. The point was to pit Hezbollah and the residents of Lebanon against each other, to deepen the gap between supporters and opponents of the Shiite organization and to warn residents of the beleaguered state and its capital city that Nasrallah continues to drag them into an abyss. Israeli intelligence is closely monitoring the deterioration in Lebanon and the population’s growing despair. Few in Jerusalem are shedding a tear over the predicament of Israel’s northern neighbor. All Israel is doing is helping the Lebanese arrive at the correct conclusion, as it sees it: Nasrallah is to blame for all their country’s troubles.
Nasrallah did not disappoint in responding to Netanyahu just minutes later, calling the prime minister a liar, denying outright all his claims and saying that Hezbollah would not store missiles near gas canisters. “We know where to store missiles,” he added. He then invited media representatives to tour the warehouse to which Netanyahu had pointed. The tour of the site was conducted an hour later, but did not resolve the dispute or clarify the situation. Netanyahu and Nasrallah found themselves facing off with their fingers on the trigger and harsh domestic crises roiling around them.
