Jerusalem, 3 december, 2025 (TPS-IL) — In an unusual announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Deputy Head of Israel’s National Security Council to send a representative to a meeting with government officials in Lebanon, his office said Wednesday. The brief statement described the move as “a first attempt to create a basis for a relationship and economic cooperation between Israel and Lebanon.”
The announcement comes one day after Netanyahu met with US President Donald Trump’s envoy for Lebanon affairs, Morgan Ortagus, in Jerusalem.
Under the terms of a year-old ceasefire, the Lebanese government is committed to disarming Hezbollah, but Israeli officials have criticized Beirut’s measures as unsatisfactory. Israel has launched frequent airstrikes on Hezbollah as the Iran-backed terror group tries to rebuild.
Under the terms of the ceasefire that went into effect on November 27, 2024, Hezbollah is required to withdraw its armed forces from southern Lebanon. According to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the group is prohibited from operating south of the Litani River.
Israel and Lebanon do not have diplomatic relations, and Lebanese nationals are prohibited from being in contact with Israelis.
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