"....An Egyptian newspaper Saturday reported the capture of several men linked to al Qaeda -- an exclusively Sunni Muslim group -- intent on assassinating Israel's ambassador to Cairo. But Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said the alleged plot was "certainly" the work of Iranian-backed, Shi'ite Hezbollah.
"And I have one message here: If, God forbid, one hair falls off the head of any Israeli representative abroad, or of even an Israeli who is not an official representative, tourists, etc., we will consider Hezbollah responsible," he told Israel Radio. "The outcome, for Hezbollah, will, I think, be of the utmost gravity," Ayalon said. "For Lebanon too." "It is important ... to relay this warning to Lebanon, which is responsible for Hezbollah -- that they will suffer the consequences if they carry out assassinations of Israelis."......
Hezbollah had no comment on Ayalon's remarks.
Asked how he could assert that it was Hezbollah who were behind the plot rather than al Qaeda, Ayalon told Israel Radio:"I don't want to get into the intelligence or operational issues here, but certainly there is both an ideological connection and a professional connection of sorts here.".....
Israel drove Hezbollah from its southern Lebanon strongholds in a 2006 war but has since complained that the militia has been secretly regrouping, despite a beefed-up U.N. peacekeeper force. Hezbollah has also boosted its political base in Beirut, and some analysts believe any threat it could pose to Israel would be as a retaliatory arm of Iran, should that country's nuclear facilities come under pre-emptive Israeli strikes...."
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