LIVNI: Hizbullah is a threat to the region and to the inter-national community. It is the long arm of Iran that wants to keep an open front with Israel in order to destabilize the region. In U.N. Resolu-tions 1559 and 1680, it was stated that there was a need for the Lebanese government to extend its sovereignty over the entire [country of] Lebanon and to dismantle all militias, including Hizbullah. Israel was attacked by Hizbullah–an unprovoked attack. So, it is necessary right now that we take this opportunity to change the situation.
Cessation or ceasefire right now without full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 … would be a victory for Hizbullah … It would take us back to square one, to the day before the attack. Our hope is that the Lebanese government will impose its sovereignty over the entire country of Lebanon. The Lebanese Army should be deployed to the southern part of Lebanon, and Hizbullah should be disarmed. As long as Hizbullah is armed in Lebanon, it is a threat. It represents the Iranian interests and is part of the axis of hatred and terror of Hizbullah, Syria, Iran and Hamas.
I am sure the Iranians knew about it.
Maybe. We are considering all possibilities in order to implement the resolutions.
The international community understands that the cause of the trouble is Hizbullah. What we are doing right now is because of the weakness of the Lebanese government and because of the unprovoked attack.
We supported the decisions of the international community and expected the Lebanese government to do what was necessary. I’m not familiar with the idea of a state with two different armies–one is the legal one of the state, the Lebanese Army, and the other is Hizbullah, armed with long-range missiles. It’s not a small organization; it is a well-organized army. Just imagine what the Iranians would do if they had a nuclear weapon–the world cannot afford it.
Right now we are trying to answer the direct threat. Of course, there is an axis of terror and there are connections between Syria, which supports Hizbullah, and Iran. Hizbullah is the representative of Iran in Lebanon. It is training Hamas members in Hizbullah camps in Lebanon. The Israeli targets are only Hizbullah. But some of the missiles were in private houses, so we had to target these places. In order to avoid civilian casualties–although I think that someone who sleeps with a missile can expect an attack–we called on the civilians to leave their houses by warning them on television and radio that we were going to bomb. The pictures are not nice when you see people leaving places, but we had no alternative.
The Hizbullah headquarters were in part of Beirut. It was a closed and guarded neighborhood.
The real message to the Lebanese is that Hizbullah is a burden.
I believe in democracy … not only in terms of elections. I believe that those who participate in elections should be only those who believe in democratic values. Terrorist organizations should be banned.
We will work together about the day after [the fighting stops in Lebanon]. The Israeli operation is crucial, but it is not enough.
I hope not. It is not our goal; it is not our intention. We are focused on weakening Hizbullah.
