WikiLeaks: Israeli Official Called on U.S. to Support March 14 Camp instead of Lebanese Government
An Israeli official had requested in 2008 that the United States directly support the March 14 camp instead of the Lebanese state out of fears that Hizbullah may take over the cabinet, said a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday.
Nimrod Barkan, then head of Israel’s Foreign Ministry Center for Policy Research, made his statements during a meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman in Israel.
During the June 6, 2008, meeting, Barkan told Feltman that Israel and the United States should work on supporting the moderates in Lebanon, said the WikiLeaks cable.
“The March 14 camp is brave, but it has been castrated,” the Israeli official said.
Feltman emphasized the need to support the Lebanese army against Hizbullah, to which Barkan responded that it would be useless “because it would never directly confront Hizbullah and it could eventually fall under its control.”
He therefore suggested that the Lebanese Internal Security Forces, which Barkan called a “Sunni militia”, be backed instead.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/4985 |