Nasrallah tries to play the Israel card to justify Hizballah in Syria

From Now Lebanon:

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday rejected withdrawing his Shiite party’s fighters from Syria in exchange for joining a new cabinet in Lebanon amid a deepening political deadlock in the country.

“Those talking about our withdrawal from Syria as a term for the formation of a government are proposing an impossible condition,” he said in a speech delivered in person in Beirut’s Dahiyeh on the occasion of the Shiite mourning day of Ashura.

“We are not in a position to bargain Syria for a government.”

The pro-Western March 14 alliance’s largest party—the Future Movement—has repeatedly voiced its refusal to join a government along with Hezbollah as long as the party continues to provide military support to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

The Hezbollah chief also said that his party’s presence in the fighting in Syria aimed to “defend Lebanon, the Palestinian cause, and Syria, which defends the resistance.”

Here are the relevant quotes from the Hizballah mouthpiece Al Manar:

"First, we reassure our adherence to the resistance, its capabilities, and weapons, as a main path for protecting our country, its goods and wealth. Some in Lebanon talk to us about the French resistance which submitted its arms, neglecting the fact that this took place after the threat was over. However, the resistance in Lebanon liberated the land but the enemy still exists and is still threatening, spying, and preparing for wars; so are we required to empty the battlefield for this enemy? As long as the reason for resistance is present, the resistance will continue to confront this Israeli threat,” his eminence said.

“Second, we should remind the entire Arab nation of the central cause which is Palestine, as we must not abandon this cause no matter what the situations were, and Muslims must all stand by the Palestinian people so that they liberate their land and sanctities,” Sayyed Nasrallah added, stressing that despite all the crises facing our country or the region, Palestine should always be the central cause.

Third, his eminence reassured his “rejection to any kind of division, and emphasized the importance of holding on to the unity of every land and country and finding political solutions to internal crises through dialogue.”

I don't need to point out Nasrallah's hypocrisy here, and it is just as obvious to the Lebanese who are trapped under his effective control of the country.

In a separate speech, Nasrallah said Israel wants to go to war with Iran and he slammed Arab countries for their pro-Israel stance:

“What is the alternative to a deal with Iran and the countries of the world,” he asked. “The alternative is war in the region.”

And he pointed the finger at Israel, accusing it of being in league with Arab countries.

“Israel does not want any accord that would avert war in the region. It is regrettable that some Arab countries take the Israeli side in its murderous choices.

“It is regrettable that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is the spokesman for some Arab countries.”

This was an apparent reference to Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who are strong backers of the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with whom Iran and Hezbollah are allied.