Plans by France to sell anti-tank weapons to the Lebanese army have raised concern among congressional supporters of Israel, who are threatening to block funding by the United States for the fledgling Lebanese armed forces. Rep. Steven Rothman, D-N.J., sent a letter Wednesday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy asking him to reconsider the sale of 100 anti-tank missile systems to Lebanon, slated to be delivered by the end of February, suggesting the weapons could end up in the hands of Hezbollah.
“As you know, Lebanon is in a precarious situation whereby Hezbollah is in a powerful position to usurp the Lebanese Armed Forces,” Rothman said. “If this were to occur, Israel would be in grave danger of having your anti-tank missiles used against her.”
Rothman, a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, said that strengthening the Lebanese Armed Forces against Hezbollah is important but “providing them with anti-tank missiles is neither helpful nor necessary in that regard.”
Hezbollah, a Shiite Islamist militia group, is designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization. The group won 10 of 128 seats in the Lebanese parliament in 2009. Hezbollah controls the agriculture and administrative reform ministries in Lebanon.
“Hezbollah’s militia also is firmly entrenched in areas it controls, making it unlikely that any domestic security force could uproot it by force,” according to a Congressional Research Service report from October.
The group receives substantial funding from Iran. “This we believe is why the Lebanese army is requesting these weapons — to use them against Israel,” said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It is believed that Hezbollah has already infiltrated the Lebanese ranks, and any funding or weapons sales would only exacerbate an already dangerous situation.”
A top ranking Democratic congressional aide told The Washington Examiner, “It would be one thing if France was providing weapons to fight terrorists, but even terrorists don’t have modern tanks. The report of this sale will have some congressman take another look at sending any aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces.”
The U.S. has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the Lebanese military in recent years, part of an effort to stabilize the region. In August, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., put a hold on $100 million in aid to Lebanon after a border clash between Lebanese and Israeli soldiers. The U.S. State Department deplored Berman’s action, and he lifted the hold in November.
Sarkozy has not responded to the letter or to any of the concerns regarding the sale, the aide added.
“Ultimately if you wanted to wage a conventional war between the Lebanese Armed Forces and the [Israeli Defense Forces] there would be no contest,” the aide said. “What are the Lebanese Armed Forces thinking here? What is France thinking? The French are supposed to be our ally and they are giving weapons to the LAF to explicitly attack our closest ally in the region, Israel.”
