Haaretz: Nasrallah Still Determines War or Peace

 Source: Al-Manar TV, 15-2-2008
Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressed on Thursday the huge crowds that took part in the funeral of Islamic Resistance top commander martyr Imad Moghnieh. Once his speech came to its end, The "Israelis" went into analyses as well as security precautions.
Haaretz Correspondent Zvi Bar'el said in his analysis that he was impressed by Sayyed Nasrallah's speech.
"We can once more be impressed that he and his advisers follow what is going on in "Israeli" society far more closely than "Israel" follows developments in Lebanon," he said.
On Thursday, Sayyed Nasrallah said "You all know that the founder of "Israel" Ben Gorion, who knows better than any other "Israeli" the strength and weakness of this entity, said that "Israel" will fall down after its first defeat. "Israel" fought its war in July 2006 and was defeated as acknowledged by the Winograd commission".
Bar'el went on to say that Sayyed Nasrallah "also knows that sharp rhetoric and expert usage of language are no substitute for a plan of action" concluding that the Hizbullah chief "presented his plan in his speech by setting the rules for an open-ended war against "Israel" and explained what this would entail.
"Because Hizbullah blames "Israel" for the assassination of Imad Moghnieh, which it 'claims' occurred "outside the natural arena of the war", the organization considers it legitimate to use the same method and target "Israel" outside the "natural arena": not directly on "Israeli" territory but against "Israeli" targets abroad", he explained claiming that Sayyed Nasrallah "absolved himself of the rules he followed for years, according to which he was conducting a war of Lebanese liberation against "Israeli" occupation, and henceforth, he is adopting a war on behalf of the organization, not in the name of Lebanon, against "Israel"'s existence".
Hizbullah's chief however made clear in his speech that the 2006 "Israeli" war against Lebanon was not over as not ceasefire was adopted adding that martyr Imad Moghnieh was killed in the course of this same war. Therefore, when Sayyed Nasrallah speaks of retaliation "outside the natural battlefield", it would still be retaliation in the framework of a continuous "Israeli" open war against Lebanon.
"On Thursday, he said that his fighters were ready for the next war, that they had equipped themselves with weapons, and that they have conscripted thousands so in the next war, "Israel" will face tens of thousands of Hizbullah fighters. Not a word on the Lebanese army, certainly not about the government of Lebanon, which he does not consider to be a legitimate body," deducing that the speech "was directed at the Lebanese government and its supporters, no less than it was for "Israel"'s consumption".
Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt called on Sayyed Nasrallah Thursday "to stop the war against "Israel" under false slogans, which only serve the ambitions of the Syrian regime and the Iranian empire."
The Hizbullah chief however retorted and described some of the leaders of the February 14 bloc as "dwarfs" who are unable to fight for themselves and therefore call in other countries, like "Israel" and the United States to fight their battles for them.
Bar'el concluded: "It is not the 'ridicule of his rivals' that is now threatening Lebanon, but Nasrallah's ability to determine, at any given moment, whether the country goes to war or keeps the peace."