Today (Wednesday), the political-security cabinet voted unanimously in favor of Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s announcement on the maritime border agreement with Lebanon, when Minister Shaked was the only one to abstain and even announced that she would oppose the vote on the agreement itself as long as it is not approved by the Knesset. Also, at the cabinet meeting, Ministers Shaked and Michali asked for a cabinet discussion regarding the security situation at IOSH, following the recent escalation and attacks.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Lapid informed the members of the government that he would invite opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu to a briefing on the maritime agreement with Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon approved the maritime border agreement; Lapid: “historic achievement”
According to the Prime Minister’s announcement, which was voted on by the Cabinet, “There is importance and urgency in reaching the maritime agreement between Israel and Lebanon, at this time. The members of the cabinet expressed support for the advancement of the approval procedures of the agreement by the government.” In the meantime, it will be clarified that the vote in the cabinet was only on the Prime Minister’s announcement, and not on the agreement itself.
Speaker of the Knesset Miki Levy decided to allow the laying down of the maritime border demarcation agreement between Israel and Lebanon in the Knesset plenum, subject to the government’s decision. The ministers will discuss at the cabinet meeting the procedure for approving the agreement, and will decide whether they place the agreement on the Knesset table without voting on it, or whether they accept the opinion of Speaker Gali Bahar-Miara. At this time, the political-security cabinet convenes to discuss the details of the agreement.
However, the chairman of the Likud faction and the center of the opposition, MK Yariv Levin, and the chairman of the religious Zionist faction, MK Orit Struck, turned to the Knesset speaker and demanded that he refuse to settle for the “discount” option and insist on the existence of the ” Approval” of the agreement by the Knesset. At the same time, they also approached the ministers of the “Right Bloc” in the government and demanded that they use the right of veto in order to ensure that this agreement was brought to the approval of the Knesset plenum.
In the meantime, during the approval of the Prime Minister’s announcement about the agreement with Lebanon, Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he was in favor of the agreement but reprimanded Prime Minister Lapid: “When I assumed the position of Prime Minister, I initiated a negotiation process with Lebanon regarding economic water, and this Out of a desire to create a “rig vs. rig” reality. Now they have reached an agreement under different conditions and in a different way than they had planned, and yet, under the current circumstances, it is right to approve. The agreement is not a historic diplomatic victory, but it is not a terrible capitulation either. It is about the series that is required, due to the necessity of the circumstances we found ourselves in, at a problematic time.”
Interior Minister Shaked said that “I insist that if the agreement is not brought to the Knesset for approval, I will oppose it. And for the benefit of those who understood otherwise – the vote that took place today in the cabinet is not a vote on the agreement itself, but on the Prime Minister’s announcement at the end of the cabinet meeting. She has no importance. It is intended for public relations purposes only. That’s why I didn’t agree to take part in it and vote for it.”
Drilling vessel in the Harish gas reservoir (Photo: Reuters)According to the agreement, the Mesopot line will be recognized as status quo and there will be no claims to change the line unless another future agreement is reached between the parties, and after the Mesopot line, the maritime line will be based on line 23. In addition, Israel will receive financial compensation for revenues from the Sidon reservoir in accordance with its negotiations with Total company.
The text of the agreement also states that “the parties agree to establish a maritime border line whose boundary will consist of the following points described by coordinates that define the maritime border, as agreed between the parties for all points towards the sea of the easternmost point of the maritime border line, and without prejudice to the land border”.
In order not to harm the status of the land border, the maritime border towards the land of the easternmost point of the maritime border line is expected to be bounded in the context of the land border.
The agreement also stipulates that “each party will simultaneously submit a notification containing the list of geographic coordinates for the demarcation of the maritime boundary line as determined to the Secretary General of the United Nations and they will inform the United States of this.”
It was also determined that “none of the parties shall make a future submission of charts or a correlation to the UN, which are inconsistent with this agreement, unless the parties have mutually agreed on the content of such a submission”.
The document also stated that the gas exploration “will begin as soon as the agreement enters into force”, and it was clarified that “there is an unknown amount of gas and the parties are aware of this. The parties understand that there is a chance of hydrocarbons being found in the area of Block 9 of Lebanon and Block 72 of Israel. Search will be carried out accordingly and if they are found Hydrocarbons will be used properly.”
In addition, the agreement states that if the gas pumping point “is located south of line 23 – Israel, unless there is a justified reason, you will not prevent the pumping”.
The Political-Security Cabinet (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom for the Chief)Apart from that, it was decided that “the parties will make use of efficient working methods of the oil industry for the purpose of gas conservation in order to maximize efficiency, operational safety and environmental protection, without deviating from the applicable laws and regulations in the field”.
It also states that “the parties agree that the relevant legal entity to hold any Lebanese rights, including the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon resources in Block 9 of Lebanon, will consist of one or several reputable international corporations that are Israeli or Lebanese and are not subject to international sanctions.”
It was also decided that “the parties will conduct separate negotiations with the French company ‘Total Energy’ regarding the profits”, and that if a dispute arises regarding the royalties – the United States will be asked to intervene.