Aoun did not respond enthusiastically when asked if Lebanon would make peace with Israel. “That depends,” he said. “We have problems with Israel and we have to resolve them first.”
This was, however, not a blanket rejection, as has always been given in the past. The Israel/UAE deal is reverberating positively around the Islamic world, with pragmatic considerations beginning to reveal that not everyone is in line with the pro-jihad lockstep.
“Lebanon president says open to Israel peace talks,” by Alison Tahmizian Meuse, Asia Times, August 16, 2020:
Lebanese President Michel Aoun dropped a bombshell statement on Saturday night, telling French TV his country may be ready for peace with Israel.
Asked in an exclusive interview with France’s BFM television whether Lebanon was ready to make peace with Israel, he responded: “That depends. We have problems with Israel and we have to resolve them first.”
It was a shocking statement by a president whose rise has benefited from a more than decade-old alliance with Hezbollah, arguably the most powerful military force in the country.
Asked what he thought of the United Arab Emirates’ treaty concluded with Israel last Thursday, Aoun responded that the UAE “is an independent country.”
That suggested Aoun would not be held back from negotiations by any pan-Arab considerations.
The implicit invitation for diplomacy came as a rising tide of high-profile figures in Lebanon have accused Israel of the attack on Beirut Port – and Hezbollah for allegedly storing its weapons there and exposing the capital as a target….
mortimer says
Michel Aoun’s unenthusiastic comments are possibly a trial balloon. No doubt, anti-Semitism in Lebanon will determine the future. Israel and Lebanon should be strategic allies and close trade partners, rather than adversaries.
Mike says
that would change the entire region with un told prosperity only if Lebanon leaders would allow it to happen without stealing the money the public earn
this could become a world manufacturing power that would make China look like a tea party
Tony Naim says
According to eye witnesses, the attack in Beirut (4th biggest ever in the history of military warfare) was conducted by one or more drones.
There is no question the ammunition depot belong to Hizballa. Deliberately stored in East Beirut to protect the Shi’a from any retaliation.
Aoun is a demagogue, I wish the statement he made signals a real intent to break with Hizballa and Iran. I hope he has the will and the courage to sign peace with Israel, but I doubt. In a press conference today, his son in law Joubran Basil, seems to continue along the same line of commitments.
Had the Christians continued to receive support from the US after the assassination of Bashir Gemayel in 1982, Lebanon would have been at peace with Israel by now. The US allowed the Syrian regime to incarcerate Samir Geagea for 11 years, the Christian leader and close associate of Gemayel. In a meeting with Ariel Sharon in Mount Lebanon, Geagea indicated clearly and unequivocally his willingness to continue the cooperation with Israel. I am not sure who was the idiot at the US state department who declined the offer. I am sure it wasn’t the Pope!
Linde Barrera says
To Tony Naim- In 1982 Ronald Reagan was US President. Why do you think he did not offer any type of assistance to Lebanese Christians?
Tony Naim says
Prior to 9/11, the thinking in Washington was that Islamic terrorism was a problem of the Middle East and Europe. No one ever imagined it was going to reach North American shores. That is why President Reagan pulled the marines out of Beirut after the terrorist attack against their Barracks. Moreover, his administration turned its back to Israel and the Christian community in Lebanon. I love President Reagan, but him not rising to meet the challenge he met in Beirut emboldened Islamic Jihad.
His Secretary of State George Schultz supported that policy.
Now the entire perspective has changed. Radical Islam is a global issue, compounded by immigration, which makes it even more pressing. This challenge needs to be resolved in the realm of ideology at the same time it solved in the battlefield. Islam needs reform, enlightened Muslims are saying it, its political dogma is incompatible with personal freedom, human rights ,democracy and the other pillars of the modern state. Political Islam is particularly discriminatory against Christians and Jews.
gravenimage says
Actually, Tony, relations between Israel and the US strengthened during the Reagan administration (they had suffered under Carter).
But yes–I wish that Reagan had better understood Islam and Jihad terror. He got that the Mullahs were bad, but never grasped what was behind this. He understood the threat of Communism, certainly, but sadly had blinders in other regards.
nicu says
Lebanon was a Christian country – and they let ” Palestenian refugees ” in — the rest is history !
Tony Naim says
In 1969, following the events of Black September in Jordan, Palestinians were channeled into Lebanon in great numbers. The Lebanese Christian President Charles Helou refused to accept them. The Sunni Muslim prime minister Rashid Karami insisted on allowing them in. Lebanon remained without a government for 9 months until the Christian president succumbed to the pressure , not only from Lebanese Muslims, but also from Arab countries.
Lebanon is supposed to be a consensual democracy. For Lebanese Muslims, the religious obligation to provide support to their Muslim Palestinian brothers outweighed the obligations of their Lebanese identity. (It still exists only on paper).
Today, the fear of Sunni Arabs from the Shi’a and from Iran is the main driver to make peace with Israel.
Most Lebanese Sunnis still hate Israel, but they hate the Shi’a and Iran more, especially after the carnage in Syria.
For them, Israel is the lesser evil.
The lack of support from the US has left the Christians in Lebanon in a free fall. Consequently, The country has gravitated into the Iranian sphere of influence. That can be changed in a short time, only with help from the US.
GreekEmpress says
Mr. Naim,
Thank you for your post. I didn’t have any opportunity to take Middle East history in school, so I appreciate what I learn here on JW, and you are in a position to have a most unique perspective.
Tony Naim says
I post in memory of 3 people:
1- my classmate at AUB, George Faris, killed by Hizballa for the simple crime of being a Christian.
2- Malcolm Kerr, president of the American University of Beirut, another Christian killed by Hizballa, also for the crime of being an American.
3- Bashir Gemayel, the president of Lebanon assassinated by the PLO/Assad.
I can assure you, The problem of Islamic terrorism is not with the Pope , it is with the leftist isolationist ignorance of some policy makers in Washington. No one is in a better position to solve that issue once and for all more than the greatest nation in the history of mankind, the USA.
REFORM POLITICAL ISLAM-
ABOLISH THE LAWS OF DHIMMITUDE. It will strip all Islamic nations NAKED.
gravenimage says
Terrible, Tony.
I don’t think that Islam will ever stop persecuting Christians and other Infidels, though–this is sadly a core part of Islam.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
They say hope springs eternal. But, as a small-time student of Islam, I can’t help but speculate that how an Islam-Israel deal if made would unravel and return to the 1,400 year status quo. (Remember, Jews were at center stage during the birth of Islam, and were assigned a particularly negative role in the Kabuki.). So who know what this is going to be, but one thing we know it *won’t* be is a Nobel prize for President Donald J. Trump, who despite being unfit for president makes substantial progress on a number of highly difficult fronts.
Linde Barrera says
To Alarmed Pig Farmer- Donald J. Trump is an outstanding President in my opinion and more “fit” than other past presidents were. Why? Because he is not a “professional politician” like most of the DC swamp are, and he speaks his mind because in the US we have free speech forever, and thank God and our Founding Fathers for that.
Additionally, both Clinton and Obama were big supporters of Islam (Clinton and his stance on the Balkans and Obama on his stance with the Iran deal). George W. Bush was just plain simple minded and dragged the US into a war with Iraq that should never have happened. His father, George HW Bush, loved Arabic oil so much (no doubt for his personal portfolio) he seemed to cast a blind eye to anything that could possibly be negative about Islam.
To conclude, I think Donald J. Trump has been an outstanding President and I am voting for him again. And you should reconsider your opinion of him if you think “American values” to be of paramount importance.
Spiro says
Lebanon must need help rebuilding
Red Pill says
Yeah after the rebuilding they can declare war again against Israel as his stated in their Quran.
RichardL says
that would be difficult because normalising the relationship would cost the Lebanese politician who does it a lot of capital. I think Israel has an opportunity to help Lebanon shake off Hezballah because that clearly is the internal goal
Tony says
I am a great fan of Jihadwatch and I read all its articles diligently. I honestly believe that this article has no place on this website, as the article is about a Christian President expressing tolerance to Israel. Where exactly is the Jihad to watch?
gravenimage says
Tony–with all respect–are you unaware of the history of Lebanon? Lebanon was at one time a Christian-majority state, but this has not been the case since they were invaded by hordes of “Palestinian” Muslim invaders in the early 1970s, and the Jihad “civil war” that followed.
Lebanon has been largely controlled by the Jihad terror Hezb’allah, which uses the nation as a base from which to wage Jihad on Israel. Recently many in Lebanon, including Christians and secularists, have expressed increasing disgust with Hezb’allah.
So this story is indeed of note here.
RichardL says
this move can be interpreted as an attempt to weaken or maybe get rid of Hezballah. If Israel seizes the opportunity one of the major jihadi organisations can be weakened or destroyed. Maybe the Lebanese people are tired.
Spiro says
Have patients
gravenimage says
Lebanon’s president suggests he is open to peace talks with Israel
…………
Tentatively sounds hopeful…
unbeliever1 says
Hizballah and Iran will do their utmost to make sure this does not come to be even if it means starting a war to rally Lebanese.