JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Security Cabinet on Wednesday voted in favor of the U.S.-brokered maritime border deal with Lebanon, the first of several procedural hurdles before the agreement is formally adopted.
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The snap vote by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s senior ministers came a day after he announced that Israel agreed to the terms of the landmark deal between the two countries that have formally been in a state of war since 1948.
Lebanon and Israel both claim around 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that are home to offshore gas fields. At stake are rights over exploiting those undersea resources.
Under the agreement, the disputed waters would be divided along a line straddling the strategic “Qana” natural gas field.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the Security Cabinet voted unanimously in favor of ratifying the agreement, with one minister abstaining, setting up a vote by the full Cabinet.
Lebanon hopes gas exploration will help lift its country out of its spiraling economic crisis. Israel also hopes to exploit gas reserves while also easing tensions with its northern neighbor.
But the deal still faces numerous hurdles, including legal and political challenges in Israel.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition to freeze the deal because of its approval just weeks before Israel goes to its fifth elections in just under four years on Nov. 1.
Definitely a total capitulation to Hezbollah’s threat.
Israel started by claiming a boundary line at point one. Lebanon originally claimed a line further south at point 2. With the start of negotiations Lebanon started by claiming a 3rd lie even further south. The “compromise” consisted of Israel agreeing to Lebanon’s point 2 which is what Lebanon originally claimed.
In short Israel got nothing and Lebanon (Hezbollah) gets everything they really demanded.
Israel did get a promise of a token payment for gas extracted, not a real payment, just a promise.
Israel finds it very difficult to define its own frontiers.