'Biden's Visit to Beirut Attempt to Prevent Opposition's Victory'

By HUSSEIN ASSI

Only two weeks ahead of the "fateful" parliamentary elections in Lebanon, the Israeli enemy seems to be very concerned with the vote's potential "outcome".

The Israeli "scare" of the elections is mainly caused by the high probability that the national opposition would emerge as victorious out of the June 7 democratic process, and therefore gain the parliamentary majority. The Zionist enemy is, therefore, sparing no effort to seek to prevent such victory by "threats" from here and "promises" from there.

Thus, the visit made by the US Vice President Joe Biden on Friday seemed to be re-assuring for the Zionist entity, especially that the US high-rank official held a meeting with March 14 leaders and, furthermore, sent obvious messages to Lebanese that the opposition's victory can cost them the so-called US aids when he said that these aids depend on the vote's outcome as well as the post-election cabinet's policies.

In this context, the Israeli media circles commented on Biden's visit to Beirut, annexed to the series of visits made lately by US officials to the Lebanese capital. According to the Israeli media, these visits are a part of the US ongoing efforts to back the March 14 bloc against the opposition and Hezbollah and to prevent the latter's victory in the upcoming elections.

Israeli daily Haaretz said that Biden's visit to Beirut was a message of support to the Lebanese current government headed by Fouad Saniora ahead of the elections. The visit also pointed to the US worries of a possible strengthening of Hezbollah following the elections.

Israeli Television – Channel 10 went on to say that the US official carried through his visit a clear message to Lebanese, with the slogan "Do not vote for Hezbollah and its allies."

"US Vice President came to Lebanon and promised to provide the Lebanese Army with weapons and trainings in order to prevent Hezbollah's victory in the June 7 elections," Ehud Yaari, Israeli expert in Arab affairs, said. "The US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt perceive very well the danger and therefore, are spending a lot of money to bribe the voters for the interest of MP Saad Hariri and his allies in the Western-backed bloc," another Israeli analyst noted.

The Israeli sources also pointed to Israeli and US increasing worries of the opposition's victory, revealing some international sources were working from behind the scenes to prevent such end. "If Hezbollah wins in the upcoming elections, the whole picture will be different," the analyst pointed out, urging everyone to work hard to hinder such victory.

For its part, Israeli daily Ma'ariv said that Hezbollah chances of winning in the forthcoming parliamentary elections are really high. "The elections come during one of the best phases for Hezbollah," the Israeli daily said, adding that "Hezbollah proved itself to be the most important party in the Lebanese internal politics."

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