"Israel believes that it is possible and necessary to reach an agreement on the maritime line between Lebanon and Israel in a way that will serve the interests of the citizens of both countries," reads a statement issued today (Monday) by Prime Minister Yair Lapid, on the background of the negotiations between the countries.
"The agreement will greatly contribute and benefit regional stability. Israel thanks the American mediator for his hard work in trying to reach an agreement. Gas production from the Harish rig is not related to the negotiations, the rig will start producing gas without delays as soon as it is possible," the statement said.
Shark rig.
In the first stage, gas will be flowed from the shore to the rig for the purpose of testing the systems, photo: Energian
This is an unusual message, which can be understood in several ways.
It may indicate that there are still difficulties and obstacles to an agreement on the part of Hezbollah, despite the reports today that the deal is almost done.
With this message, it is possible that Jerusalem wants to convey to their counterparts in Beirut - "There should be an agreement, if not - don't try us".
This message is surely aimed at Nasrallah, since he is the only party that does not currently accept the position that the Harish gas field is entirely in Israeli territory.
This is a position accepted by both the Americans and the Lebanese government.
Nasrallah warns that drilling in Karish could lead to escalation (archive), photo: Arab Networks
"Israel Hayom" learned from sources close to the negotiations that the team managing the talks on the maritime border with Lebanon is examining the possibility of bringing the agreement to secret approval by the cabinet, before it is presented to the public.
Also, at the political level, the possibility of defining the procedure for dividing the economic waters between Israel and Lebanon as "marking a border" and not as "determining a border" is being examined, with the aim of avoiding the need to approve the agreement in a referendum.
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