Tony Badran Puts Israel’s New Maritime Borders with Lebanon into Context

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2022

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On October 12, 2022, Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid approved an agreement with the government of Lebanon to establish maritime borders between the two countries. The deal, brokered by the United States, is important because large fields of natural gas have been discovered under the seabed of the Israel-Lebanon coast—and whichever country controls these fields can reap the financial and energy benefits from them.

In some quarters, the establishment of the new borders—without a war being fought, the usual means of fixing borders—is seen as an accomplishment. For those who hold that view, this deal will help stabilize Lebanon and provide it some economic relief. Furthermore, given that Lebanon and Israel are, officially if not currently in fact, still at war, the agreement is seen as evidence of America’s power as a mediator in the Middle East. In short, the deal is a diplomatic achievement worth celebrating.

This week’s podcast guest disagrees. Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, has argued that Israel has traded away its maritime rights in exchange for the mere hope of regional order, and it makes future conflict between Israel and Hizballah-controlled Lebanon more likely, not less. In conversation with Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver, he discusses the political context within which the Israelis and Lebanese established their maritime borders, why America pushed so hard for the agreement, and why the deal harms Israeli security and boosts Hizballah.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Transcript

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0:00.0	On October 12, 2022, Israeli Prime Minister Yai'ir Lapid and his cabinet ministers approved an American
0:16.5	brokered agreement with the government of Lebanon. The new agreement establishes maritime borders
0:21.6	between the two countries. Now, there's a great deal of money to be gained or lost in the
0:25.8	establishment of these borders because large fields of natural gas have been discovered, but not
0:31.2	yet developed under the seabed. The establishment of borders now, without a war being fought,
0:36.9	is seen in some quarters as evidence
0:39.4	of America's power as a mediator to establish the framework of successful negotiations in the
0:45.6	Middle East. After all, Lebanon and Israel are officially still at war, and the Lebanese government
0:51.3	does not recognize Israel. To supporters of this deal, this is what peace looks like.
0:56.9	Adversaries coming to peaceful terms that really do achieve something important.
1:01.4	For by giving Lebanon a stake in the stability of the eastern Mediterranean,
1:06.2	it's less likely that they'll initiate violent attacks on Israel's gas platforms there. And by giving
1:12.9	Lebanon a chance to grow its own material resources, perhaps it's less likely they'll be
1:17.7	susceptible to foreign control by Iran, Russia, and other enemies of the American alliance
1:23.7	structure. President Biden and Prime Minister Lapid see the deal in this light, a signal
1:28.9	diplomatic achievement. Today's guest does not see it that way at all. Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm
1:35.0	your host, Jonathan Silver. Tony Badron is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies,
1:41.5	a native son of Lebanon, and a critic of the American brokered deal. In his view,
1:47.0	the Lebanese government is a sort of polite euphemism for the controlling political authority in Lebanon,
1:52.1	which is the Iranian-backed terrorist organization, Hezbollah. He sees the deal as a way not to
1:57.9	isolate Lebanon from Iranian influence, but as a way instead to finance an Iranian
2:03.1	proxy. He sees Israel having traded away maritime rights for the mere hopes of regional order,
	...

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