Minister: Israel will destroy Lebanon if attacked by Hezbollah

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett yesterday threatened to destroy Lebanon if Hezbollah attacked his country.

The minister made the remarks during a security conference in the city of Herzliya.

“Hezbollah has become an important player within the Lebanese government, so any attack against Israel would mean destroying Lebanon,” Bennett told Israel’s Maariv daily following the release of the results of Lebanon’s elections.

“Hezbollah is not an existential threat to Israel, but it is a strategic threat to it,” Bennett said, vowing to “respond with great force if Israel is attacked”.

Preliminary results of the Lebanese parliamentary elections on Monday showed that Hezbollah and allied Amal Movement have made significant progress at the expense of the Free Patriotic Movement led by President Michel Aoun and the Future Movement led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

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