American diplomat Frederick Hoff was the first mediator in the issue of the maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon more than a decade ago. he said: “There are challenges in the future. On paper, this is an acceptable deal, it’s a fair deal for both parties. But that’s not the end of the story.” He believes that this conflict could have been resolved a decade ago
American diplomat Frederick Hoff was the first mediator in the issue of the maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon more than a decade ago.
The compromise he proposed at the time to divide the original disputed territory was nicknamed the “Hoff Line”. In a conversation with Roi Kays in ‘Khan Haod’, he says that the current deal Fair, with very good potential for both sides. According to him, “Israel has been flexible, but the concession will pay off. It’s a shame that a decade was lost. We could have reached a solution even then.”
Roy Case points out that Hoff was the first American tasked during the Obama administration a decade ago to try to find a solution to the dispute between Israel and Lebanon regarding the maritime border. The disputed area then included 860 square kilometers. His proposal was that 55% of the territory would belong to the Lebanese side while 45% would remain on the Israeli side.
According to the current agreement, the original disputed territory remains largely in the hands of the Lebanese side. “I read the text of the agreement,” he says. “My first impression is that it is potentially very good for both sides. I say ‘potentially’ because there are challenges in the future. On paper, this is an acceptable deal. It is a fair deal for both sides. But that is not the end of the story.”
Friedrich Hoff, the first mediator with Lebanon on the maritime border issue in 2012, on the current agreement: “Israel has been flexible, but the concession will pay off” https://t.co/yqEtubEmFGReplying to @The_Kiss_ (Photo: AP) pic.twitter.com/Xa56CKXqf3
— here news (@kann_news) October 14, 2022
According to him, “We need to understand how much gas there is on the Lebanese side and make sure that a governmental system is established in Lebanon that will ensure that the people in Lebanon enjoy the profits. Right now this cannot happen. On the Israeli side, the challenge is whether the agreement will last in light of the election period in Israel and what will come after it.”
Hoff says that objectively, “it is definitely correct to say that Israel was flexible and went towards the Lebanese, because the original Lebanese claim to Line 23 was recognized 100 percent through this agreement.” However, he adds: “I think there are opportunities here for Israel that make this concession worthwhile. Israel has many plans to market natural gas to Europe. Anything that can be done to avoid the possibility of conflict will help that.”
Hoff says that when he came up with his idea for a compromise, he did it through American eyes, as if it were the border line between the United States and Canada. Even today he feels a kind of loss. He believes that it was possible to resolve this conflict a decade ago, and even the parties were very close to it in the compromise format he proposed at the time.
For Roy Case’s full column click here