Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel would hold Beirut accoutable for any attack on Israeli targets from Lebanon, if Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah joins the new government.
"If Hezbollah entered the government as an official body, let it be clear that the Lebanese government will be held responsible for any attack on Israel coming from its territory," Netanyahu was quoted by the Israeli news service Ynet as saying.
Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has been holding talks over the lineup of a new government expected to group his Western-backed alliance with the Syria- and Iran-backed opposition led by Hezbollah.
Hariri, whose alliance won the June 7 parliamentary election, was designated by President Michel Suleiman on June 27 to form a new cabinet. The obstacles in forming a unity government have mainly focused on whether to grant the opposition veto power or proportional representation.
Hezbollah's official entry into the Lebanese government takes away any line between the state and the militant group with that regard, Netanyahu was cited by local daily Ha'aretz as saying.
The prime minister said "The government of Lebanon cannot just say 'that's Hezbollah,' and hide behind them," noting that "The government of Lebanon is in power and responsible."
Israeli-Lebanese relations became a focus again after the June 14 explosion at an arms depot in southern Lebanon.
However, Netanyahu denied tensions increasing between the two neighboring countries.
The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon and the Lebanese army have launched investigation in a bid to determine whether the ammunition is the leftover of the Israeli-Hezbollah war, or Hezbollah-stored arms.
The UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel during the summer of 2006 prohibits Hezbollah from rearming.
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2009)
