Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced this morning that Israel and Lebanon have reached a "historic agreement" on their maritime border. He said that tomorrow he will convene the Ministerial Committee on National Security Affairs (State Security Cabinet) to discuss the matter followed by a special cabinet meeting to approve the agreement. The agreement will then be discussed by the Knesset, although a vote will not be taken.
The Israel-Lebanon agreement is due to be signed a week before Israel's Knesset elections on November 1, with October 24 penciled in as a possible date for the signing in Nakura on the Israel-Lebanon border.
In a statement, Lapid said that the draft agreement met all Israel's security, economic and legal demands. He said, "This is a historic achievement that will strengthen Israel's security, and bring in billions to Israel's economy and ensure stability on the northern border."
Earler today National Security Council head Dr. Eyal Hulata, who conducted the negotiations with the Lebanon on the maritime border, said that Israel and Lebanon were close to signing the agreement on the Qana/Sidon gas field. He said, "All our demands have been met - the changes that we required have been made. We maintained Israel’s security interests; we’re on the way to a historic agreement."
The statement was released this morning after US mediator Amos Hochstein received a response in principle from Lebanon last night to the amended proposal that he sent to the government there. This proposal was formulated after Israel objected to changes demanded by Lebanon to the original draft. According to a diplomatic source in Israel, the new wording is acceptable to Lebanon, although it requires final polishing, and it would appear that the substantive disputes have been resolved.
Once the wording is finalized, the agreement will go the government for approval, but before that will be laid before the Knesset, although the Knesset will not vote on it. The diplomatic source estimated that the agreement would be signed in the week before the election in Israel on November 1.
It was reported that the atmosphere in the security cabinet last week was pessimistic because of the Lebanese demands for changes to the agreement, but the source said that in fact it had been clear in Israel that the matters in dispute were not significant, and that Lebanon’s need for an agreement would force it to reach understandings quickly to exploit the window of opportunity before the Israel election and the retirement of Lebanese president Michel Aoun.
Lebanon also claims its demands were met
In Lebanon too, it is claimed that the country’s demands have been met in the new draft, although that somewhat contradicts the Israeli declaration. An official Lebanese source told the Al Jazeera network that Lebanon was inclined to agree to the US proposal for marking the maritime border with Israel, and that it contained solutions to all the points in dispute.
He said that the US had given guarantees to French energy company Total so that it could start drilling in Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), after Lebanon demanded that the start of drilling should not be contingent on negotiations on the compensation that Israel will receive in relation to the part of the Qana/Sidon field that is in Israel’s (EEZ).
On the issue of the line of buoys marking the political border, the second main point in dispute, the source said that the US proposal incorporated Lebanon’s objection to determining it as the border line, and that a final determination would be made later on, when the land border is fixed.
In response, the Israeli diplomatic source told "Globes" that the new wording allowed Israel full military activity up to the line of buoys, and secured the receipt of compensation for the development of the Qana/Sidon field.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 11, 2022.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.