Five months after elections that were touted as a rare example of Middle Eastern democracy, Lebanese politicians have announced a national unity Cabinet with a strong opposition presence led by Hezbollah.

The Prime Minister, Saad Hariri,said on Monday: “Finally, the national unity Cabinet is born.” In June he led a pro-Western coalition to election victory, but the parties have since been locked in stalemate over forming a government.

The compromise line-up offers an effective power of veto to the opposition, which is led by the militant Islamist group Hezbollah — considered a terrorist organisation by countries including the US.

The presence of ten opposition ministers in a 30-strong Cabinet has raised concerns in Israel about the growing influence of Hezbollah. There was speculation that the Iranian-backed party could affect Lebanese policy if talks between Tehran and the West broke down.

The majority coalition has 15 seats and the opposition, with two Hezbollah MPs and eight of its allies, has ten, one short of the number needed to veto government decisions.

However, an independent bloc of five seats has one member, Adnan Hussein, who is known to be sympathetic to opposition policies.

The delay in forming a government prompted Mr Hariri, the son of the assassinated former leader Rafiq Hariri, to step down temporarily in September, saying: “We had rounds and rounds of consultations and it always ended with no result.”Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a political expert, said: “I think Hezbollah was able to flex its muscles ... Obviously on the ground, Hezbollah is a very powerful force.”

In Israel, where the military was hit hard by Hezbollah in 2006, the news will be received with trepidation. “The response is concern at Hezbollah’s increasing clout which may lead to more hostile policies towards Israel,” Meir Javedanfar, an analyst in Tel Aviv, said.

Israeli authorities confiscated more than 500 tonnes of weapons from a boat last week. They said it was travelling from Iran to Syria, and that the weapons were meant for Hezbollah.

The Israeli army’s chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, said that the militia had rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. “A false calm currently reigns on Israel’s southern and northern borders, where the enemy is preparing for a new confrontation,” he said.

He said that there could be consequences in Lebanon if the Iranian negotiations on the nuclear programme broke down.

The majority and opposition parties in Lebanon are backed by Saudi and Syrian governments respectively, and any rift in those countries’ relations could cause unrest.

Nadim Shehadi, an associate Fellow at the London think-tank Chatham House, said that the inclusion of two Hezbollah MPs in the Cabinet did not make the militant group more likely to act unilaterally. The political system of Lebanon was still evolving after years of crisis and the compromises made to the opposition came from a Lebanese phobia about confrontation.

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