Posters of Hezbollah’s flag and the terrorist group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut. Photo: Al Aan Arabic Television via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Defense Minister Benny Gantz made the right call by sounding the alarm on Monday, saying that a Hezbollah attack on Israel’s gas installations in the Mediterranean Sea could trigger war. Such a clarion call makes sense because it on the one hand serves as a warning to Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and on the other, alerts Israelis and the international community.

Israel’s security officials have not taken Nasrallah’s threats lightly. There is no doubt that his repeated threats to attack Israel have upped the ante, and this should not be ignored.

Israel and Lebanon can find a way to resolve their maritime dispute. The Karish gas barge is well within Israel’s territorial waters, while the northern gas field, Qana, lies in Lebanese jurisdiction. Israel has made it abundantly clear that it wants Lebanon to extract gas from the northern field, and the US mediation efforts could make that a reality. Lebanon is suffering from a major economic crisis and desperately needs the gas from the Qana field, which is why we have to find the actual rationale for Nasrallah’s repeated threats.

The conventional wisdom within Israel’s national security community is that his threats are driven by domestic interests as part of the Shi’ite terrorist group’s battle for hegemony in Lebanon. The threats underscore his desire to have Hezbollah get the credit for resolving this crisis in a way that benefits Lebanon and results in gas being supplied. Thus, while his statements are designed to create the threat of war, he is hardly keen on an actual flare-up. That said, Israel must take seriously the option that he wants an escalation that would serve as a pretext for another round of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.