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Israel and Lebanon to Begin Talks to Determine Maritime Border
(Ha'aretz) Amos Harel - Israel and Lebanon, together with the U.S., will meet this month at the UNIFIL base at Naqoura just north of the Israeli border to discuss establishing the maritime boundary between them in light of natural gas explorations in the Mediterranean. Lebanon hopes to upgrade its energy economy the way Israel did a few years ago. Beirut's willingness to hold talks after years of refusing to do so is apparently based on economic considerations. Such talks wouldn't have happened without a green light from Hizbullah, which it gave for those very reasons. According to Israeli intelligence, Iranian financial support for Hizbullah has fallen from $1 billion annually to about $600 million. Hizbullah, a key partner in the Lebanese parliament, hopes to receive its share of a future gas deal.