The ministerial statement is a step in the right direction toward building a truly national defense strategy. From what we understood on Friday, the statement is not perfect – perfect would mean it limits all martial activity to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) – but it will likely commit the cabinet to pursuing a policy of assuring that “everything in the statement is under state supervision and administration,” and stressing the right of the state to reclaim its authority over all its territories; this being an undeniable constitutional principal, stating that it is the right of “Lebanon, its people, its army and the Resistance to liberate or reclaim land under occupation using all legitimate and available means.”

It was reported that Prime Minister Fouad Siniora had wanted to add a modifying clause that stipulates that “on the condition that this right is not monopolized by one group and that that group does not impose its own culture and decisions, while ignoring the authority of the state, which is committed to protecting its citizens, be they armed or otherwise.”  But one can’t have it all.

In any case, the statement is a welcome shift from the 2005 version, which reflected the then inviolability of Hezbollah’s nationalist credentials, as it read: “The cabinet considers the Lebanese Resistance movement a genuine and natural expression of the people’s national rights to free their land and defend their dignity from Israeli aggressions, threats and designs, and to continue the effort to free the Lebanese territory.”

Strong institutions are crucial to the future of Lebanon as a genuine sovereign state, and so it is entirely fitting that the statement should be released around the time of Army Day celebrations, an occasion to recognize and thank the LAF for the sacrifices it has made, most recently at the battle for the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli that raged exactly one year ago. That summer, the army proved that it was a genuine national institution, dedicated to fighting all enemies on all fronts. The result of this national, rather than partisan, approach to defense, resistance, liberation – call it what you will – was the admiration, support and gratitude of an entire nation.  It proved that the Lebanese can, and want to, unite under one national flag.

Only destructive regional agendas have so far prevented the LAF from fulfilling its legitimate mandate. It can and should inherit the legacy of the Resistance, and today, with the cabinet expressing the primacy of the state in any confrontation with Israel, it should work to build the LAF as the state institution for this purpose. If it requires the help – monetary or otherwise – of genuine allies who want to see Lebanon stand tall, democratic and self-determined, then so be it. 

Meanwhile, according to the Thursday edition of Al-Akhbar, Hezbollah is making moves to deter Israeli over-flights of Lebanese air space. There is no argument over the fact that these are clear violations, both of international law and Lebanon’s sovereignty, and must be stopped. Instead, the debate should center around who should be tasked with the job of deterrence, and that must surely be the state.

Hezbollah is selling itself as the sole guarantor of national security from Israeli aggression, but this will ultimately only spark further division among a Lebanese population that, in early May, saw firsthand what Hezbollah meant by “national security.”

If the party is allowed to become the only force in the country protecting it from Israel, the sectarian tensions that have surfaced this year will continue to simmer, keeping Lebanon on the brink. One renegade militia with arms will beget others – it has already started in Tripoli’s Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh districts – and the heartbreaking scenes of May will not only be repeated, but will come to represent modern Lebanon.  

Bolstering the LAF and putting this force at the fore in the defense of Lebanese territory – even if that includes absorbing Hezbollah, its fighters and its weapons – is the only viable option so far. The right to defend the state and the pursuit of policies designed to improve lives for all citizens from all communities belongs in the hands of state institutions the entire country can identify with and respect.

Without strong state institutions, the state cannot be strong.