Lebanon is monitoring the January Israeli elections and results from a new and largely unprecedented standpoint. In the past, it had focused primarily on whether the new Israeli government would tout a peaceful or bellicose agenda, in order to gauge the likelihood of a new military offensive against Lebanon. This consideration, however, no longer takes priority, despite the fact that such a fear could still become a reality. Instead, other considerations have emerged.
In response to the question of why Lebanon’s stance has shifted, a source from the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited two driving factors: a UN resolution supporting the stability of Lebanon and the fact that the resolution is bound to the all-important issue of the two countries jointly creating a safe working environment for international companies to explore the offshore gas deposits overlapping their maritime border.
