BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prime minister said Wednesday that his country was “far from” diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel, despite a move toward direct negotiations between the two countries aimed at defusing tensions.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s comments to a small group of journalists in Beirut came in contradiction to a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel would send an envoy to talks with Lebanese diplomatic and economic officials, which he described as an “initial attempt to create a basis for relations and economic cooperation” between the two countries.
Lebanon and Israel both announced the appointment of civilian members to a previously military-only committee monitoring enforcement of the US-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah a year ago.
The civilian members — Simon Karam, an attorney and former Lebanese ambassador to the US, and Uri Resnick, the Israeli National Security Council’s deputy director for foreign policy — took part in Wednesday’s meeting of the mechanism.
Along with Israel and Lebanon, the committee includes representatives of the US, France and the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL.
