Israel faces a weakened Hezbollah, but nonetheless a group still capable of inflicting significant damage on the Jewish heartland

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arallel to the developments in Syria, Israel is closely following movements in Lebanon.

As the temperature rises in the Middle East, so does the rhetoric of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. He recently bragged about possessing an arsenal of precision missiles capable of hitting all of Israel and declared that if Israel dares attack his missile production factories, he will set the whole region ablaze.

But figures in Israel’s security establishment remain confident and say the military is ready to face Hezbollah’s firepower. Tamir Heyman, head of Military Intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces, said last week that Israel is currently in one of the “safest periods” in its history. “We don’t need Nasrallah to give us updates about his precision-guided missile project,” he told a meeting of security ministers in Tel Aviv. “We know more about it than he does, and everything he revealed were things we knew already. To the best of our understanding, they have yet to perfect the system.” He further said that the United States is pushing the Lebanese government to confront Hezbollah’s influence in the country, a situation that is causing the terror group “considerable anxiety.”

According to military insiders, Hezbollah will not attempt to strike Israel in the near future for two primary reasons: one, a rapid decline in its military power; and two, a weakening of its financial resources. Additional US sanctions on Iran have meant drastic cuts to Hezbollah’s budget. In the past Iran provided as much as $700 million annually to fund the group’s activities. Today that has been cut to a mere $200 million, a reduction that has plunged the group into a deep financial crisis.

The budget cuts are being felt on the ground. For the first time since Hezbollah’s founding 36 years ago, the fighters’ stipends have been drastically reduced. It is three months since the regular forces started receiving only two-thirds of their pay, while reservists have been forced to content themselves with half. In addition, the budget of the group’s media arm has been cut, despite its importance as a vital propaganda tool. The various benefits once enjoyed by members of the group, including free medication and free public transportation in Lebanon, have also been canceled.

What’s surprising is that despite the severe economic crisis faced by the organization, Hezbollah has strengthened its presence on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. The terror group has massed forces in Quneitra as part of its efforts to strengthen its hold in Syria, and has built up its operational capacity to wage war on Israel from Syrian territory.

Israel faces a weakened Hezbollah, but nonetheless a group still capable of inflicting significant damage on the Jewish heartland.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 764)