Tag Archives: Lebanon
Israel update: Syria, Lebanon and Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to present U.S. President Donald Trump with new plans for a potential strike on Iran during an upcoming Mar-a-Lago visit, as Israel warns Tehran is rapidly rebuilding its nuclear program and accelerating ballistic missile production.
The White House reiterated that any Iranian move toward a nuclear weapon would trigger decisive U.S. action. Also: the U.S. launches a massive retaliation strike against ISIS in Syria, killing senior operatives; growing skepticism over Lebanon’s claims that Hezbollah will be disarmed south of the Litani River; continued IDF operations and ceasefire diplomacy in Gaza.
🎙 Featuring expert analysis from: Dr. Nir Boms – Syria Researcher, Tel Aviv University Avi Melamed – Middle East Expert Join our community now and receive 24/7 of new & original content from the State of Israel.
A view from Jordan
Earlier this week, Jordan’s King Abdullah II appointed his Chief of Staff Jafar Hassan to form a new government, following last week’s Parliamentary elections. The Hashemite Monarch has commendably been trying to modernize the Kingdom’s political system, so as to better reflect the views and aspirations of a restless new generation.
The problem, however, is that the most adamant element in the Jordanian public, a distinct minority, is Islamic and bitterly anti-Israeli. The border with Israel, which used to be quite secure, is now porous, which enabled a terrorist to sneak through and kill three Israelis. This is also a testament to Iranian efforts to use Jordan as a corridor through which weapons and explosives are being smuggled to West Bank terror cells. Is the Hashemite Regime strong enough to withstand these pressures? Joining us for the analysis:
I was happy to join my colleagues Jonathan Hessen, Amir Oren, Col. (Ret.) Joel Rayburn to discuss of this.
Israel and Lebanon: A Bridge Over Troubled Waters?
In the latest edition of Tel Aviv Notes, Stéphane Cohen and Nir Boms explain the late 2020 negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over the maritime border.
Amidst a deep political and economic crisis in Lebanon, accelerated by the Beirut port explosion in August last year, the end of 2020 witnessed a surprising round of talks regarding the demarcation of the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border. These bilateral negotiations – mediated by the U.S. and the U.N. – are the first non-security talks held between the two countries since the 1990s. Of course, Lebanon and Israel have no diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war. The incentives for progress in the talks are strong as they could pave the way for lucrative oil and gas deals on both sides, though there still appear to be significant obstacles on the Lebanese side. Speaking with John Desrocher, the most recent U.S. mediator for the negotiations, in December 2020, Lebanese President Aoun was quoted as saying that Lebanon wants the talks to succeed because “this will strengthen stability in the South and allow us to invest in natural resources of oil and gas.”[1] Could a maritime border agreement between Israel and Lebanon be feasible, despite the otherwise toxic atmosphere between the two countries and the recent escalating threats of Hizballah? In a region full of surprises, this, too, might be a part of a changing reality.
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