U.S. backs Lebanon on maritime border dispute with Israel
Barak Ravid Haaretz Published 01:32 10.07.11
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/u-s-backs-lebanon-on-maritime-border-dispute-with-israel-1.372377

Amid rising tensions over gas reserves, Israel to submit proposal to UN on
where maritime economic border with Lebanon should be over next few days;
U.S. endorsed Lebanon's proposal submitted to UN in August.

In the next few days Israel will submit to the United Nations its take on
where its maritime economic border with Lebanon should be, as the two
countries scramble for gas reserves estimated to be worth billions of
dollars.

Israel's position is due to be approved by the cabinet today; Jerusalem
argues that Lebanon's proposal includes major areas belonging to Israel.

Last August, Lebanon submitted to the United Nations its version of where
the maritime border should be - the exclusive economic zone. In November, it
submitted its version of its western border, with Cyprus.

The Lebanese proposal does not include the large Tamar and Leviathan gas
prospects, operated by Delek Energy and U.S. company Noble Energy. But the
National Infrastructure Ministry found that the proposal contains reserves
with a potential value in the billions of dollars.

The Lebanese also sent their version to the United States, which conducted
an expert review and endorsed the document. A senior Foreign Ministry
official told Haaretz that the American diplomat in charge of the issue was
Frederic Hof, who was responsible for Syria and Lebanon under the former
U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell. Hof has kept the
Israel-Lebanon brief despite Mitchell's resignation two months ago.

In April, Hof began shuttling between Beirut and Jerusalem. A senior
administration official told Haaretz that Hof's main goal was to prevent the
border from becoming a source of tension between Israel and Lebanon, which
could give Hezbollah a pretext for targeting Israeli gas installations.

Beyond the political and diplomatic interest, the United States has an
economic interest in keeping the parties calm, not least because American
companies are involved in the search for gas an oil in Israel, Lebanon and
Cyprus. Hof told his counterparts in Jerusalem that Israel should cooperate
with setting the maritime border to prevent the creation of an "underwater
Shaba Farms," referring to a contested area on the Israel-Lebanon border.

The Foreign Ministry official said Israel had asked the Americans to relay a
warning to Lebanon on the matter. Foreign Ministry officials told Hof that
Israel would not allow a provocation on the matter or an attack on Israeli
gas installations. They said Israel would consider such an attack an attack
on its sovereign territory and would retaliate "strongly" against Lebanon.

Hof responded by suggesting that Israel submit to the United Nations its own
outlook on the border and try to launch a dialogue. Hof asked Israel not to
turn the issue into a political spat but to see it as an economic and
technical matter that could benefit all parties.

Israel rejected indirect talks via the United Nations, calling on Lebanon to
begin negotiations on all border issues, not just the maritime border. The
foreign and infrastructure ministries believe that Lebanon is claiming vast
offshore territories that belong to Israel under international law.

"It's important to provide the UN with the Israeli version of the border as
soon as possible, to react to Lebanon's unilateral move," a senior Foreign
Ministry official told Haaretz. "Not responding could be interpreted as a
tacit agreement. We must act fast to ensure Israel's economic rights in
these areas."

Israel has become even more concerned about the positioning of the border
after learning recently that a Norwegian company has begun searching for gas
in the area. The search is due to be completed within months, and the
Lebanese government hopes to use the findings to license international
energy companies to probe areas that could be in Israel's exclusive economic
zone.