Associates of Prime Minister Yair Lapid defended the emerging maritime agreement with Lebanon Monday and refuted critics who said it was a "shameful" surrender to Hezbollah.
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"Is this agreement a compromise? The answer is yes," one of the associates said. "For ten years, they [previous governments] were unable to reach a compromise and now we have succeeded." He added that the window of opportunity to sign the proposed deal is until Oct. 31, when Lebanese President Michel Aoun's term ends.
"The ones most pushing for and wanting such an agreement is the security establishment, which see the agreement as a stabilizing factor in the region," he continued. "In the end, we are talking about a real security threat here. If there is no deal, the Lebanese will have no rig. We have given up on a few meters of water, but there will be an agreement."
The officials also addressed remarks by former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who claimed that the current proposal gives "100% to Lebanon and 0% to Israel."
"Friedman is rambling and campaigning against [President Joe] Biden. This is an agreement that is important to Biden, important to [French President Emanuel] Macron, and important to Israel. It's important to Israel because of security, regional stability vis-a-vis Lebanon and the desire to weaken Hezbollah. This is not a surrender, every negotiation is a compromise."
As for the debate over whether the move has to be approved by the Knesset first, the official assured, "the agreement will be submitted" for such a review.
"But let's not forget that the Abraham Accords also only reached the Knesset after they were already signed, and we voted in favor and added that this is a historical achievement. There will be a Cabinet meeting to discuss this, the government, the attorney general and US guarantees. In any case, the concessions are not extreme. The agreement has zero importance in terms of mandates, like the Abraham Accords. The political claims are political themselves."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett is also in talks with relevant parties regarding the agreement. He is yet to express his opinion on the matter publicly.
According to an official in Bennett's office, "Since changes have been made to the agreement, Bennett is holding talks with professionals and political parties to examine it. He believes that an agreement is necessary, but it should be a kind that is good from a political, security, and economic point of view. He has not yet formulated his position and is examining everything."
Bennett, who served as prime minister before Lapid took over as part of a rotation agreement, has the right to veto the deal. His possible criticism of the draft proposal would complicate matters for Lapid.
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