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Wehbe Katicha, a Lebanese MP belonging to the Lebanese Forces party, said in a September 3, 2019 interview on OTV that there will be no economy in Lebanon as long as it has militants acting outside of the law. He explained that Israel never attacks Jordan or Egypt because they have governments that honor their agreements with Israel, and he said that Israel would not attack Lebanon, either, if it was ruled by a real government. He pointed out that Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 22 years without building a single settlement, and he asked: "[We are being told that] the Jews might attack us 100 years from now, [so] we should form a militia and prevent the existence of a [Lebanese] state?"
Following are excerpts:
Wehbe Katicha: When the incident [with the Israeli drone] happened in south Lebanon, some Arab countries immediately instructed their citizens to leave Lebanon. Why? What is the meaning of this when it is officially declared by a state? If this incident was carried out by the Lebanese army, would any [country] have acted this way? Of course not. You can be certain that there will be no prosperity, no investments, no economy… Trust me, we will have no economy as long as there are militants acting outside of the legal framework.
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How come Israel never attacks Jordan or Egypt? When there was a dispute over Taba – how come the Egyptians did not establish a militia to regain Taba? They went to the Hague and got Taba back. Why? Because there is a state there that honors the agreement it signed with Israel – before there was peace and after there was peace. If we had a real state here, even without a peace accord, you can be sure that Israel would not have attacked us and that it would not have entered into Lebanese skies.
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Why would [Israel] attack Lebanon? It was [in south Lebanon] for 22 years, but it did not build a single settlement or a single house, and it did not take any land. Why are you telling me that they might attack us 50 years from now? Just because the Jews might attack us 100 years from now, we should form a militia and prevent the existence of a [Lebanese] state? Is that even conceivable?
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