Livni: We're not panicking over Hizbullah threats

VIDEO - In the wake of Hassan Nasrallah's fiery speech Thursday, the State Department said it was not aware of a specific threat made to Israel by the Hizbullah leader but condemned anything of the sort as "alarming." "As a general matter, those kinds of statements are quite concerning and they should be alarming to everyone," Spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. "Quite clearly, Hizbullah has a long record of carrying out violent acts and acts of terrorism around the globe. You have a pathway of violence that stretches from Buenos Aires to Kuwait and a lot of places in between." Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel is a "strong country" and added that statements uttered by terrorists will not change that. "We are not panicking," Livni said in response to Nasrallah's speech. The foreign minister, who is currently in Washington, also noted that Israel has been facing threats from the moment it was established and that it will be able to address the latest threats as well. 'Mugniyah wanted to meet Allah' Earlier Thursday, Nasrallah eulogized top military commander, Imad Mugniyah, who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus two says before saying: "The martyred commander Imad Mugniyah waited and expected to meet with Allah. Since he was a boy, Hajj Imad acted for victory and requested to become a martyr and, at the end, he got what he wished for." Nasrallah's remarks were broadcasted by a live video feed. The militant cleric addressed Mugniyah's bereaved parents saying "I want to bless you and to console you and to tell you – Allah blessed you and your family. If only the whole world knew that this jihadist house sacrificed its sons – three martyrs. "Everything you have Abu Imad (Mugniyah's father) – your three sons, you sacrificed to martyrdom. One after the other. This family was extraordinary in jihad and martyrdom," he said. "To his wife I say, and to his comrades-in-arms, all of his relatives and fans in Lebanon, Palestine and any other place: I want to console you on this loss of a cherished commander." 'All of Israel agreed that the war was lost' In a dry voice, Nasrallah railed against Israel saying it had made a mistake by assassinating Mugniyah just as it had made a mistake by killing his predecessor, Abbas Musawi. He vowed to retaliate against Israeli targets abroad after accusing Israel of killing his former chief military commander. "They think that because of this (act) the resistance will be weakened, but our campaign continues. Imad's blood only encourages us…in the next war you will not encounter one or one thousand like Winograd (chief judge on investigatory commission of Second Lebanon War) said. You will encounter tens of thousands of Imad Mugniyahs," the firebrand cleric declared. He reiterated several times the powerful blow inflicted upon Israel in the 2006 Lebanon campaign: "Everybody knows that (Israel's first prime minister David) Ben Gurion established the Zionist entity in occupied Palestine. He was the most experienced man in the existence of this entity. Listen to what Ben Gurion said. He said that 'Israel would fall after it would lose its first war.' "Israel entered the war in July 2006. The Zionist dubbed it the 'sixth war' although senior Israeli strategists called it the 'first war.' All of Israel, from the right to the left, agreed that it lost the war. The Winograd report did not manage to conceal this – the hundreds of failures and deficiencies, the lack of political and military leadership. Does the Winograd report not say this?" The Hizbullah chief said his group was ready for "open war" with Israel if the Jewish state wanted it. "Zionists, if you want this type of open war then let the whole world hear: let it be an open war," he said. Reuters and Roni Sofer contributed to the report

Livni: We're not panicking over Hizbullah threats

(Video) Foreign minister says Israel a 'strong country' that can address Hizbullah threats; US State Department: Nasrallah's threats alarming. Hizbullah leader vows revenge, says killed commander Mugniyah wanted to meet Allah