Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday signed the agreement on a maritime boundary between Israel and Lebanon, that will permit Israel’s neighbor to the north to start digging for underwater natural gas in an area that extends into Israel’s territory.
An Israeli delegation, led by Director-General of the Energy Ministry Lior Schillat, left onboard a helicopter for the signing ceremony at the Rosh Hanikra border crossing. The delegation will cross the border to the UNIFIL base in Nakura in synch with the Lebanese delegation, but not together, God forbid.
Lapid and Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun also did not sign the same document, but identical documents that will be submitted to the UN representative at the Rosh Hanikra crossing. Lebanon has been stressing throughout the years of negotiations with Israel that it does not recognize the Jewish State, nor has it given up its desire to see it be erased by its army of terrorists, Hezbollah.
Indeed, many in Israel suspect that the reason Lapid has chosen to capitulate so quickly, after years of an impasse, had to do with his fear of a Hezbollah retaliation that would involve thousands of rockets being fired at Israeli civilians up north, as the terrorist group has done in 2006. There have been speculations that the Supreme Court, guided by its President Esther Hayut, agreed to reject three different legitimate petitions against the agreement after having been shown behind closed doors the extent of Israel’s vulnerability before a future Hezbollah aggression.
Lapid told his cabinet Thursday that the agreement boosts the security of Israel and “our freedom of action against Hezbollah and the threats from the north.” Believe me, every single minister around that table knew he was lying.
Except perhaps Ayelet Shaked who wasn’t around the table at the time. Shaked was not in the room during the cabinet vote. Walking back in to the cabinet afterwards she said she was surprised the cabinet had already voted and said she had planned to vote against it.
מהממשלה
השרה שקד לא הייתה בחדר הדיונים במהלך ההצבעה על ההסכם עם לבנון. לפתע נכנסה לאחר שהסתיימה ההצבעה ואמרה ״מה? למה כבר הצבעתם? רציתי להתנגד!!״
הצבעתה נרשמה רק לאחר מכן
— Yaron Avraham ירון אברהם (@yaronavraham) October 27, 2022
Lapid also touted the deal as “a political achievement,” boasting that “It’s not every day that an enemy country recognizes Israel in a written agreement.”
But, of course, Lebanon didn’t. If they had to, the Lebanese delegation would have worn Hezbollah T-shirts to stress just how much the deal does not constitute recognition of Israel.
Hezobllah chief Hassan Nasrallah declared it a victory for Hezbollah.
Lapid also added that “this is an economic achievement, production started yesterday at the Karish reservoir.” Of course, Karish is well inside Israel’s water, it didn’t need a deal with Lebanon to exploit it. But Israel will receive 17% of the profits from the Lebanese field as well. In the future.
The French have a saying, “Vendez pas la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué.” Don’t sell the bear’s skin before you killed it.
“A new era has begun,” said the Lebanese representative for the talks, Elias Abu Saab, but he clearly was not referring to any change in his country’s relationship with the “Zionist entity” down south.
In fact, the American negotiator, Amos Hochstein, said that the agreement would lead to an “economic turning point in Lebanon,” so, not so much for Israel. Hochstein did have something for Israel, though, a warning that if one of the parties should violate the agreement, both parties would lose.
Correction: one of the parties has already lost – its dignity, its deterrence against Hezbollah, its resources, and its democratic principles, such as respecting the rule of law. Lapid signed the deal without the Knesset’s ratification, and since he also gave away Israeli territory in the bargain, he also ignored the legal requirement to hold a referendum on giving away parts of Eretz Israel.
The Netanyahu government, should it take over in November, God willing, must hire an army of lawyers to get Israel out of this insult to its sovereignty.
