Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed acting head of The National Security Council Gil Reich to send a representative on Wednesday to meet with Lebanese governmental-economic officials. This marks a first attempt to establish a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon in many years.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the Acting Director of the National Security Council to send a representative on his behalf to a meeting with government-economic elements in Lebanon," Netanyahu's office said on X. "This is an initial attempt to establish a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon."
The representative will be Dr. Uri Resnick, signaling the start of civilian negotiations with Lebanon that include civilian – not only military – representatives on both sides, unlike in the past. Earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese Presidential Office announced the appointment of former Ambassador Simon Karam, an attorney, as the head of the Lebanese delegation to the meetings of "the mechanism" (supervision committee that governs the implementation of the 2024 ceasefire). That representative will participate in a committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday in Naqoura, on the border. This is the first time a Lebanese civilian representative has been added to the committee.
"Israel must give the government of Lebanon an opportunity" Former President Biden's envoy, Amos Hochstein, addressed the situation in Lebanon at the Israel Hayom summit in New York on Tuesday. He said the ceasefire achieved about a year ago between Israel and Hezbollah was not a result of the organization's goodwill, but instead "a demonstration of military weakness." He revealed that parallel to the ceasefire, efforts began to establish a new presidency in Lebanon – which he views as the most pro-Western in years – to create a stable foundation for a long-term process of disarming Hezbollah.
A year later, Hochstein stated, the picture is much murkier. The government of Lebanon has failed to fulfill its part, and the organization has not been weakened enough to allow for genuine progress. "Hezbollah must disarm, and the government of Lebanon must fulfill what it committed to," he said. However, he emphasized that Israel must allow the Lebanese government a genuine opportunity to act before considering a military solution: "Returning to war will not achieve this – unless Israel plans a full occupation, which nobody wants."
