Berri claps as Abou Faour rejects normalization with Israel

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri clapped his hands in applause Wednesday after MP Wael Abou Faour of the Progressive Socialist Party rejected any normalization agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

“The U.S. president’s envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that Lebanon could join the (Abraham Peace) Accords with Israel … Our historic, principled and current stance is that the maximum that Lebanon can reach would be the (1949) Armistice Agreement with the Israeli enemy,” Abou Faour said in a speech in parliament during a session debating the new government’s policy statement.

“I believe that this is the impending challenge,” Abou Faour warned.

The Abraham Accords are a series of normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states that U.S. President Donald Trump brokered during his first term.

Witkoff said Tuesday that he sees potential for normalization with Israel by Lebanon and Syria, after recent setbacks for Iran-backed forces in the two countries.

“Lebanon, by the way, could actually mobilize and come into the Abraham Peace Accords, as could potentially Syria. So, so many profound changes are happening,” Witkoff told an event in Washington for the American Jewish Committee.