Within less than a week, the optimism that had swept through Jerusalem, Beirut and Washington regarding prospects for completing a deal on the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border has turned into discouraging pessimism. On Oct. 6, Defense Minister Benny Gantz instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prepare for escalation along Israel’s northern borders, including “defense and offense readiness."
Just like that, with no advance warning, the harbingers of peace turned into drums of war. The reason? Not substantive disagreements between the sides, nor a dramatic change in the terms of the emerging deal, but simple, vulgar Middle Eastern politics.
