by Washington – Elie Youssef — aawsat.com/ — American sources revealed that they had from the start believed that the border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel would not reach any tangible results. The sources, which were in contact with the State Department team that sponsored the negotiations, said that the talks were “hastily” arranged. They revealed that they had urged the team against being hasty in launching the negotiations months before the American election. The team had sought a “political victory” in beginning the marine border talks, but the Trump administration’s defeat in the election means that it will not be employed for any political gain. Moreover, the sources said the team failed in understanding the “mentality” of the Lebanese side of the negotiations. They explained that they underestimated the reasons that could motivate the Lebanese to “accept any settlement that could help them resolve their crippling economic crisis.”

Indeed, the reality on the ground showed that the ruling Lebanese class does not care in the slightest about easing the crisis and is happy to leave the country in the hands of an armed group – Hezbollah – that is following a non-Lebanese agenda. “It was evident that the Lebanese negotiators will not offer a free gift” to Trump when he leaves office, said the sources. They would rather offer it to Joe Biden’s administration amid Iran’s hopes that it could salvage the 2015 nuclear deal or end US economic sanctions against it, they continued.

Moreover, they remarked that the Lebanese side’s new conditions in the negotiations may not be aimed at obstructing them alone, but cornering the other team amid the Trump administration’s desire to achieve a victory in the final hours of its term. Such a victory would leave the Biden administration in a weaker position should it continue on sponsoring the border talks, explained the sources. The negotiations were launched in October, with delegations convening at a UN base to try to resolve a dispute about their maritime border that has held up hydrocarbon exploration in the potentially gas-rich area. They had held four rounds of talks before they were postponed indefinitely in November. The talks are the culmination of three years of diplomacy by Washington.

Disagreement over the sea border has discouraged oil and gas exploration near the disputed line. The sides presented contrasting maps for proposed borders in October. Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said the demarcation line should start from the land point of Ras Naqoura, as defined under a 1923 agreement, and extend seaward in a trajectory that a security source said extends the disputed area to some 2,300 sq km (890 sq miles) from around 860 sq km. Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Lebanon had now changed its position seven times and was contradicting its own assertions.