Deputy National Security Council chief Yossi Draznin will participate in a meeting in Nakura, Lebanon, on Friday with former ambassador Simon Karam, who will serve as Lebanon's representative, and US Special Envoy to Lebanon Morgan Ortagus, sources familiar with the details said.
This represents a step up in the ranks of officials participating in these meetings, which aim to address economic issues, alongside security officials who attend to discuss the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
Israel, Lebanon hold first senior-level talks in decades
Earlier this month, Uri Reznik, deputy head of the Foreign Policy Division at Israel’s National Security Council, met with Ortagus and Lebanese civilian representatives for the first time since the 1991 Madrid Middle East conference.
Following the meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement saying that “the meeting was held in a positive atmosphere, and it was agreed that ideas would be formulated to advance possible economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”
At the end of the meeting, Israel clarified that Hezbollah’s disarmament remains an essential requirement and is not linked in any way to progress on potential economic cooperation.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam later gave an interview following the ceasefire-monitoring committee’s meeting in the south. He stated that Lebanon is ready for negotiations beyond solely military talks with Israel.
He argued that “normalization is tied to the peace process,” adding that in his view, “if both nations adhere to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, normalization will come – but we are still far from that. Economic talks would be part of any normalization process with Israel, which would only occur after a peace agreement.”