During the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in the summer of 2000, the discovery that the hitherto unheard-of Shebaa Farms was the only slither of Lebanese territory still occupied — and thus still meriting the existence of the Resistance – sent the United Nations scrambling for its maps.  This tiny plot of land had never been mentioned before by Hezbollah, but now, it was elevated to the raison d’être for continuing its guerilla war against Israel.  Skeptics cried foul, arguing that Shebaa was just a convenient excuse for Hezbollah to keep its arms.  This week, they were proven right.

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah on Thursday vowed that the Shia militia will maintain its arms, even if Israel pulls out of the disputed Shebaa Farms area. One expects that, for Hezbollah’s Syrian and Iranian allies, the resolution of all pending disputes between Lebanon and Israel will not convince them to relinquish their armed struggle (which, by the way, earlier this week appeared to be spreading ominously within Lebanese territory).

As the international community tries to resolve the disputes between Lebanon and Israel in an attempt to pave the way for some kind of peace, Hezbollah uses Israeli concessions as justification to continue its endless war.  An Israeli withdrawal from the Shebaa “would be a big achievement for the Resistance, for this would be the result of its role and its pressure,” according to Fadlallah.  Given this logic, the success of the “resistance” would justify opening new fronts and trying to achieve new concessions rather than returning to the institutions of the state.

So, if Hezbollah and Israel, as expected, soon carry out a prisoner exchange that would return Samir Kantar, among other Lebanese prisoners in Israeli detention, in exchange for Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, the two Israeli soldiers whose kidnapping sparked the catastrophic war in July 2006, expect Hezbollah to portray this deal as the über-justification for continuing its reckless and destructive posturing against Israel.

As Hezbollah releases unilateral statements regarding the Shebaa Farms and negotiates with Israel over a prisoner swap, the Lebanese government still remains paralyzed over the formation of a cabinet.  Recent reports indicate that the reason for the delay lies in Hezbollah’s insistence on a ministerial policy statement endorsing the militia as a “national resistance.” The country can hover on the edge of the abyss, but Hezbollah doesn’t care. As usual, it wants its parochial demands met and to hell with the rest of us. As for a cabinet, don’t hold your breath.

There should no longer be any doubt: Hezbollah is more than willing to subordinate the Lebanese state to its resistance activities.  When South Lebanon was still under Israeli occupation, this tradeoff was understandable.  Before Hezbollah intimidated its domestic rivals into political concessions through the force of arms, it was perhaps conceivable that the Party of God could exist beside the state.  But today, we are fast moving to a stage where Lebanon is not big enough for both Hezbollah and Lebanon’s national institutions.

Thus the state, as ever, remains secondary to Hezbollah’s chronic navel-gazing. It remains to be seen how and when it will end. The outlook does not look bright.