Aoun Hedges over Eventual Peace with Israel, Rules Out Resigning
President Michel Aoun seemed to leave the door open to eventual peace with Israel, in an interview with French news channel BFMTV.
Lebanon has technically been at war with neighboring Israel for decades, with tensions sporadically flaring in the border area in Lebanon's south, stronghold of Iran-backed Hizbullah.
Asked in an interview on BFMTV whether Lebanon would be prepared to make peace with Israel, Aoun responded: "That depends. We have problems with Israel, we have to resolve them first."
His statement came in the wake of an announcement Thursday that Israel would normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, only the third Arab state to establish full diplomatic ties with Israel since its creation in 1948.
"It's an independent country," Aoun said of the UAE.
Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement has for years been politically allied with Hizbullah.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday of the Israel-UAE agreement that "it's a betrayal of Jerusalem and the Palestinian people. It's a knife in the back."
A key point of contention between Lebanon and Israel concerns oil and gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean, where both countries have sought bids for exploration in their exclusive economic zones.
The maritime border between the countries is disputed.
Aoun's interview was aired in the aftermath of the Beirut blast on August 4 that killed 177 people and wounded at least 6,500 more, with many blaming systemic corruption and negligence of the entrenched political class for the disaster.
Many Lebanese have demanded the ouster of the entire ruling class, dominated by ex-warlords from the country's 1975-1990 civil war, including of Aoun.
Asked by the BFMTV journalist if he had thought of stepping down, Aoun said, "it's impossible, there would be a vacuum."
16 August 2020, 13:42
33
“بتبقى انت الحلم، والحلم ما بيشيخ
الله يحميك
بي الكل
A fearless man - A real leader - A true statesman.
16 August 2020, 14:53
13
If Israel with the agreement of the Syrian regime, gives the Sheba'a farms back to Lebanon, an Israeli Peace Treaty would become feasible with Israel.
16 August 2020, 15:54
02
"gives the Sheba'a farms back to Lebanon"
They were NEVER part of Lebanon, so Israel can not "give them back" to Lebanon. If Syria wishes to discuss the situation with Israel, they know exactly how to phone the Israeli PM's office. Only after that will the Syrians be able to transfer sovereignty to Lebanon.
16 August 2020, 16:03
30
@phillipo, Palestine was never part of the State of Israel, yet here we are now. When my great grand father married a woman from Ibelin in the 1800s, it was said he married a Palestinian, not an Israeli.
16 August 2020, 15:49
02
"We have problems with Israel, we have to resolve them first."
There is a well established proven way to solve international problems, it is called "face to face talks". Remember always and everywhere, the way to peace is talking, no more can you say "we can't talk direct to our enemies".
Let the Lebanese PM declare that his government is willing to sit down with their opposite numbers in Israel to try and bring about a solution to the Eastern Mediterranean points of contention.
16 August 2020, 15:57
03
The people know these politicians don’t represent them. But I’m more concerned by airing Hezbollah or Nasrallah speeches as it’s perceived as active propaganda, not news.
16 August 2020, 17:51
02
Dear i.report. My wife has a birth certificate from 1945 stating specifically that she is a "Palestinian".
So I have an idea, let us see how many people still alive (not only Arabs) have birth certificates such as this from before 1948, and then we will see who were the Palestinian majority in the area of the British Mandate, Jews or Arabs.
16 August 2020, 18:45
40
The British Invasion and occupation of the Middle East isn’t the best point of reference. If you want something objective and meaningful you must go a little farther in time. When Zionism was done legally and acceptably, by purchasing properties from the local Palestinian or Lebanese owners (like the sursock family).
You also have the wrong approach, you label Muslims or Christians as Arabs, disregarding the only Jews who really have roots in the area, the Arab Jews. The others are European Jews.... they’re totally foreigners... ethnically and linguistically.
17 August 2020, 08:51
10
Phillipo ... you keep repeating this morally and legally bankrupt argument that the children of refugees are not refugees and thus not entitled to go back to their homeland. NO ONE but radical Israelis and those of lack of morality accept this. This allow terrible regimes to expel people from their homeland and simply outlast them to claim that their children have no rights! Funny that Zionists claim that Jews have a 2000 years old right that is at best dubious and here we have a Zionist propagandist who want to deny the children and grandchildren of refugees their rights!
17 August 2020, 00:24
30
عون: يجب حل المشاكل مع إسرائيل قبل التوصل إلى اتفاق سلام معها
Michel Aoun Zionist
17 August 2020, 09:11
02
Speaking from Israel, we'd love nothing more than peace with Lebanon. The Sheba Farms/Har Dov claims are dubious at best but if it's a deal breaker then take it.
RE Zionism etc: You need to get over this. Our rights stem from being the aboriginal people of Palestine/Land of Israel.
17 August 2020, 09:25
10
I'd be happy to give Lebanon priority in resolving the Palestinian refugee issue. I believe that there are less than 200,000 currently in Lebanon.
18 August 2020, 08:17
00
As 20% of the population of Israel is Arab, the question remains why did they listen to their leadership and flee in the first place. If they had remained where they were they would have been leading happy, healthy and peaceful lives in rtheir own homes just like the Israeli minorities do today.
