DAMASCUS, Syria — The rapidly escalating conflict in Lebanon has divided the Arab world, deepening the gulf between rulers and ruled and reinforcing in the public's mind the impotence of leaders who for two generations have been unable to produce a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, governments with ties to the United States have guardedly denounced Hezbollah for the attack on Israel that triggered the fighting -- even as their citizens began tacking up posters of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the cleric who heads the Shiite Muslim militant group and has vowed to bring "war on every level" to Israel's door.
The disconnect between the broad range of public support for Hezbollah and the unease felt by many Arab leaders is one of the reasons that Arab governments have been largely unable to mount an effective diplomatic response to Israel's 5-day-old bombing campaign.
Over the weekend, for example, the Arab League, meeting in Cairo, was able to agree on little more than a statement urging all parties to avoid actions that might "undermine peace and security," appealed to the United Nations for intervention and unsurprisingly declared the Middle East peace process dead.
On one level, the divide pits Syria and non-Arab Iran, which are longtime backers of Hezbollah, against Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, whose Sunni Muslim-led governments fear the rise of Islamic militancy and the influence of Iran.
"The resistance will win and the Israeli aggression will fail," Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said in a statement Sunday, pledging a "firm and direct response" if Syria is attacked. "The resistance has hit deep inside Israel, and the enemy did not expect this."
Iran, meanwhile, threatened that Israel would suffer "unimaginable losses" if it widened the conflict with a strike on Syria.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday rallied behind Hezbollah, describing Israel as "an evil, cancerous tumor" in the midst of the Islamic world.
By contrast, the Saudis on Friday blamed the current crisis on "irresponsible adventurism" by Hezbollah -- a statement echoed by Jordan and Egypt.
The divide also separates those governments from large segments of their populations.
