Lebanon ‘far from’ normalising relations with Israel, prime minister says

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam speaking to journalists on Wednesday (Bilal Hussein/AP)

Lebanon’s prime minister said his country was “far from” diplomatic normalisation or economic relations with Israel, despite a move towards direct negotiations between the two countries aimed at defusing tensions.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s comments to a small group of journalists in Beirut came in contradiction to a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel would send an envoy to talks with Lebanese diplomatic and economic officials, which he described as an “initial attempt to create a basis for relations and economic co-operation” between the two countries.

Lebanon and Israel both announced the appointment of civilian members to a previously military-only committee monitoring enforcement of the US-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah a year ago. The civilian members took part in Wednesday’s meeting of the mechanism.

The two countries do not have diplomatic relations and have been officially in a state of war since 1948.

The move to hold civilian talks appeared to be a step toward the direct bilateral talks between Israel and Lebanon that Washington has pushed for.

However, Mr Salam said Lebanon is still committed to the 2002 Arab peace plan the normalisation of diplomatic relations with Israel is conditional on the creation of a Palestinian state – a prospect to which Mr Netanyahu’s administration has been adamantly opposed.

“Economic relations would be part of such normalisation, so then obviously anyone following the news would know that we are not there at all,” Mr Salam said.