On October 15th, Iran President Mahmouhd Ahmadinejad and Hizbullah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah met at the Iranian embassy. After a warm greeting Nasrallah presented the Iranian guest with an interesting gift to convey gratitude for decades worth of financial and other support. The gift was a rifle that was captured in 2006 from the Israeli Army in the 2006 war.
However, according to certain Israeli sources the gift is actually a FN FAL caliber 7.62 produced in a factory in Belgium. The Israeli army has not used the FN FAL weapon since the mid 1970s, these sources claimed. Israeli soldiers currently use a combination of the M16 and the Tavor assault rifle. It is almost impossible that Israeli soldiers brought a weapon into a combat situation that has been discontinued for 30 years, these sources added.
Nasrallah has been known as a credible leader and this is also supported by the Israeli military intelligence. Over the course of the 34 day 2006 war Israeli weapons must have been captured. Why would Nasrallah intentionally give a weapon to Hizbullah's great benefactor that could potentially embarrass the Iranian President and Hizbullah itself unless this is a small part in a bigger picture or a simple public relations mistake by one of Nasrallah's lieutenants. Until Nasrallah clarifies this issue, it is reasonable to assume that Israel tries to hide its failures in the battlefields by circulating false information.
