The draft agreement on a maritime border between the exclusive economic zones of Israel and Lebanon has been revealed. The Qana/Sidon gas prospect, which straddles the economic zones of Lebanon and Israel, will be developed entirely by Lebanon, chiefly through French energy company Total, while Israel will receive financial compensation for the part in its zone, a senior diplomatic source disclosed last night.
The compensation mechanism has not yet been determined, and it will be discussed together with the developing companies. Israel has foregone its demands concerning its economic zone, and accepted the Lebanese demand for a border between the two countries’ economic waters along what is known as Line 23. Israel’s original stance was to agree to concede 60% of the disputed area. The maritime border between the two countries will be the line of buoys stretching from the shore five kilometers out to sea, in accordance with Israel’s demand.
The draft is a proposal by US mediator Amos Hochstein, and the diplomatic source said that it was acceptable to Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Minister of Defense Benny Gantz. It is worth noting that a similar arrangement, involving financial compensation in relation to a gas field in Israeli waters, is meant to settle the dispute between Israel and Cyprus over the Aphrodite/Yishai field. The source said that after the agreement was approved it would go to the relevant UN institution which would ratify it and thereby end the dispute over the Israel-Lebanon maritime border.
The source said that the agreement would be discussed in Israel’s security cabinet on Thursday, but that it had not yet been decided which body should vote on it, the cabinet or the full government. He said that only after that would a positive response be conveyed to the US, adding that the US and France would be guarantors of the agreement, and that France, which owns 50% of Total, had an economic interest in it succeeding.
The direct achievement of the agreement, at least in the short term, is a calming of the atmosphere vis-à-vis Hezbollah, and a reduction in friction and in the chances of a military confrontation arising from the dispute, as Hezbollah has threatened.
Asked whether the draft agreement did not represent a surrender to Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah, after their threats against Energean’s production platform in the Israeli Karish gas field, the source said, "A window of opportunity has been created, partly because of the political situation in Lebanon, and we are trying to take advantage of it and end the dispute." On the question of how the agreement should be approved, he said that the National Security Council was working closely with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on all the legal aspects. He refused to comment on leader of the opposition Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that a future government headed by him would not regard itself as bound by the agreement.
Gantz’s decisive influence
Analysis of the agreement, the principles of which are simple, explains the satisfaction with it on the Lebanese side. The Lebanese stance at the beginning of the negotiations has been fully accepted, while Israel’s Line 1 has been erased. The diplomatic source claimed that Israel had not agreed to accept the more southerly line presented by the Lebanese in the negotiations in the past, Line 29, but in fact the current negotiations would never have started had Lebanon not conceded that point. Hochstein presented the cancelation of Lebanon’s original hawkish stance as a condition for renewal of the talks.
"Globes" has learned that the principles of the agreement were settled in the first week of September, despite the opposition of some senior officials involved in the negotiations. The original Israel stance was to agree to concede 60% of the disputed area, but this stance was not accepted.
The position of Minister of Defense Benny Gantz had a decisive influence, as he gave priority to maintaining quiet vis-à-vis Hezbollah and the territorial border - the line of buoys - over the dispute concerning economic waters. "Globes" has reported that this position too was bitterly contested within Israel’s defense establishment, and several of those involved in the discussions warned that it amounted to caving in to Hezbollah and its threats.
Gantz stressed the security advantages of the agreement, saying, "The agreement is not a guarantee that future friction with Lebanon will be prevented, but there is no doubt that it will strengthen stability and deterrence, and in the long term will also weaken Lebanon’s dependence on Iran, which sends it fuel and other aid.
Gantz criticized Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that he would annul the agreement if he was elected prime minister. He suggested that Netanyahu should ask for an orderly briefing on the matter "before providing fuel for the propaganda of Nasrallah, who endangered, and still endangers, the agreement."
Prime Minister Yair Lapid said of the agreement at yesterday’s government meeting, "Over the weekend, a proposal was received in Lebanon and in Israel from the US mediator for an agreement on the maritime border between the two countries. We are in talks on the final details, so that we cannot yet say that an agreement has been achieved, but, as we insisted from day one, the proposal preserves all of Israel’s security and political interests, and also our economic interests. We have no objection to the development of an additional Lebanese gas reserve, from which we shall of course receive the royalties due to us. Such a reserve will weaken Lebanese dependence on Iran, restrain Hezbollah, and lead to regional stability."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 3, 2022.
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