Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured this Sunday that several localities with a Christian majority in Lebanon had requested their incorporation into Israel with the aim of obtaining protection from the Lebanese Shiite party-militia Hezbollah.
"Some have actually asked to be annexed to Israel because we protect them from the Hezbollah fanatics who want to kill them," Netanyahu stated in an interview with the American network Fox News.
The head of the Israeli government did not specify which towns or cities had made this alleged request, nor whether it was made publicly or in private contacts. Despite these statements, both Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar have reiterated on different occasions that Israel "has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon."
Both officials have stressed, however, the importance of maintaining the presence of Israeli troops in certain areas of southern Lebanon — the area south of the Litani River and some enclaves north of the riverbed — to maintain a "security zone" that hinders the launching of projectiles against northern Israeli territory.
Netanyahu added that it is not only Christian communities that are asking for protection from Israel. "It's not just the Christians of Lebanon who have asked for protection. Druze, Muslims, Sunni Muslims, and a few Shiite Muslims too," he indicated. "They would like to liberate Lebanon. I hope we can achieve more peace agreements," the leader pointed out.
The recent agreement reached between the Lebanese and Israeli governments, signed a few days ago, does not formally constitute a peace treaty, but it does grant legal coverage to Israel's military presence on Lebanese soil as long as Hezbollah continues to be considered a threat.
In the same television interview, Netanyahu expressed his concern about criticism of Israeli military action coming from sectors of the American left, including voices within the Democratic Party. "I am concerned that there are anti-Israeli elements in the Democratic Party. I am concerned and if we can do something, I will do it. Those who hate Israel end up hating the United States," the prime minister maintained.