Israel and Lebanon on Thursday signed a controversial U.S.-mediated maritime deal, which Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed as the first time an enemy state had formally declared recognition of the State of Israel.
President Joe Biden congratulated the two countries on signing the deal, which his energy envoy, Amos Hochstein, had negotiated for years.
The agreement was signed by Lapid and Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun in their respective capitals, and the papers were handed to Hochstein who ratified them at a ceremony at a United Nations base in the Lebanese border town of Naqoura later in the afternoon. The ceremony was attended by UN officials and the Lebanese and Israeli delegations, which did not come into contact.
“It is not every day that an enemy state recognizes the State of Israel, in a written agreement, in view of the entire international community,” Lapid said during a cabinet vote on the deal on Thursday morning.
“It’s not every day that the United States and France stand behind us and provide security and economic guarantees for the agreement,” he said.
“This agreement strengthens and fortifies Israel’s security and our freedom of action against Hezbollah and the threats from the north. There is a rare consensus from the whole defense establishment on the importance of the agreement,” Lapid said.
Biden said he was “proud to congratulate Israel and Lebanon on officially concluding their agreement to resolve their long-standing maritime boundary dispute.”
Biden stressed the deal would “set the stage for a more stable and prosperous region.”
According to Biden, energy “should not be a cause for conflict, but a tool for cooperation, stability, security, and prosperity.”
A United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) vehicle drives on the coastal road to Naqura, the southernmost Lebanese town by the border with Israel, on Octobre 3, 2022. (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)
“This agreement takes us one step closer to realizing a vision for a Middle East that is more secure, integrated, and prosperous, delivering benefits for all the people of the region,” he said.
A day earlier, the Energean gas producer Energean begun production at the Karish offshore natural field.
The deal allows energy production from the Karish field, which is the crux of the dispute between the two nations. While Israel maintains that the gas field is within its territorial waters, Lebanon claims it’s partially within theirs. The two countries, which are technically still at war, never demarcated maritime borders.
Hezbollah, the terror group that effectively controls Lebanese politics, has threatened war over Israel’s decision to develop the Karish gas field and has attacked the rig twice in recent months. The Israeli military intercepted several Hezbollah drones headed for the rig in over the summer.
Critics in Israel and the U.S. have blasted the deal, with former prime minister and leader of the opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it a surrender to Hezbollah.
The Israeli High Court of Justice last week unanimously rejected all petitions filed against the deal.
A senior Hamas member said he supported Lebanon’s decision to sign the deal a day before its signing.
“Lebanon, at the end of this deal, will get its economic rights, and the Lebanese resistance will succeed in imposing its conditions on Israel,” Suhail al-Hindi said.
“It’s Lebanon’s right to possess the entirety of its rights,” said al-Hindi. “The Lebanese resistance is speaking from the position of what’s good for the Lebanese people and the preservation of their rights.”
He went on to say that the deal would pave the way for his terror group to access offshore gas.
“That gas belongs to the Palestinian people. It is not right for Israel to possess it. We’re keeping our eyes on the riches of Palestine and will not let Israel steal them.”
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