by David Harris

    JERUSALEM, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- After five months of wrangling following June's general election, the Lebanese opposition Hezbollah is about to take its seat at the government table. The outstanding issues there are expected to be resolved within days.

    For Israelis, the question is whether a beefed up political role for the Iranian- and Syrian-backed armed group will ease tensions on the border between the two countries or afford Hezbollah more military strength.

    Israeli analysts believe the chances of a peace deal with Lebanon will be even smaller than they were before Hezbollah's imminent entry to the government headed by the Western-backed Saad Hariri.

    Hezbollah has been a part of the Lebanese government since 2005. However, the role it plays is increasing all the time.

    ISRAELI PESSIMISM

    Given its performance in this year's election, the organization has proved there cannot be a Lebanese government without it, said Moshe Marzuk, an expert on Lebanon and Hezbollah from the International Institute of Counter-Terrorism at Israel's Interdisciplinary Center.

    Israel and Hezbollah fought a short but bloody war in the summer of 2006. While the frontier has been largely quiet since then, the two sides are clearly keeping their defenses up and their fingers close to their triggers.

    Marzuk breaks down the Israeli view on Hezbollah into several distinct areas.

    On the positive side, from an Israeli perspective, he does believe it will be more difficult for Hezbollah to take unilateral action as it will have more senior government partners carefully watching its every move.

    On the other hand, he does not think Hezbollah will disarm, despite pressure from Christian factions in Lebanon and from the United Nations.

    UN Security Council Resolution 1701, approved in August 2006, calls for "the extension of the control of the government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory, for it to exercise its full sovereignty, so that there will be no weapons without the consent of the government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the government of Lebanon."

    However, both the UN and Israel say Hezbollah has been rearming since the end of the war, and it is Israel's belief that Hezbolla his now better equipped than it was prior to the outbreak of hostilities.

    "Israel will go to war against Hezbollah because of its perception of the latter's threat against the Jewish state, and not because Hezbollah has won a few portfolios in Saad Hariri's forthcoming cabinet," Hilal Khashan, a professor of political studies at the American University of Beirut, said on Monday.

    NO CHANCE OF PEACE FOR NOW

    Some experts are concerned that Hezbollah's new position of strength will create even more tension with Israel.

    "Hezbollah's relationship with Israel is unfortunately only going from bad to worse," said Ziad K. Abdelnour, the president of the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon.

    Even prior to Hezbollah's entry to the government, the possibility of a peace deal was slim. According to Marzuk, now the chance will all but disappear.

    One of the key reasons is that, as Hezbollah increases its grip on political power in Lebanon, the country will become ever closer to Iran and that will all but preclude any agreement with its neighbor to the south, said Marzuk.

    Compared to the last time Israel and Hezbollah came to blows, if Hezbollah makes the first move in any conflict against Israel, the Israelis will be able to say this time that it is the Lebanese government that is responsible, Marzuk said.

    Until now Israel has issued fairly woolly statements about holding the Lebanese government responsible for any attacks on Israel from its territory.

    That woolliness would be replaced by a lack of hesitation on Israel's part should it come under attack.