War and Peace: Israel brings Lebanon to negotiating table as airstrikes rain down on Beirut

From the show

François Picard welcomes Farès Boueiz, former Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Israeli-Lebanese talks in the US cannot be defined as a "breakthrough", explains the former Lebanese minister. He sees this as a technical prelude to meaningful negotiations. What we are witnessing is the exploratory stage of diplomacy. According to Boueiz, the fundamental issue lies in the misalignment of objectives. Lebanon approaches these discussions seeking an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, while Israel seeks "full political peace and with normalisation" of ties.

It is not coherent to Boueiz for Israel "to take Lebanon under fire to negotiations: It's not easy to sit at the negotiating table, and to talk about peace, when your country is submerged by bombing all day". Negotiating under relentless bombing undermines the possibility of constructive dialogue. No state can realistically engage in peace negotiations while tens, even hundreds, of thousands of civilians endure territorial incursions, forced displacement, warzone conditions. Exacerbating the problem is the absence of an effective mediating force: The United States has deflected from their traditional role of “honest broker”: relegating themselves to a mere messenger of Israel rather than a mediator. Without credible facilitation, the prospects for meaningful progress remain uncertain.