WASHINGTON/PARIS — The second round of direct talks between Israel and Lebanon in the border town of Naqoura on Friday excluded the French government, saw US pressure on the Israeli delegation and exposed disagreements over the so-called economic zone that Israel is seeking to establish, Al-Monitor has learned.

Chaired by Deputy US Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus, the meeting brought together Lebanon’s former Ambassador to the United States (1992-1993) and civilian envoy Simon Karam, who was accompanied by a Lebanese military officer; Israel’s Deputy National Security Council chief Yossi Draznin; Uri Reznik, deputy head of the Foreign Policy Division at Israel’s National Security Council; and US Gen. Joseph Clearfield, head of the Mechanism, a group formed last year to oversee the ceasefire. 

France sidelined

France, which is also part of the Mechanism, was asked not to attend, two high-level sources told Al-Monitor. Ahead of the meeting, only the second at the civilian level between Lebanon and Israel since 1991, French Ambassador to Lebanon Herve Magro asked to represent Paris, but the request was rejected by both the United States and Israel. Israel even threatened to pull its representatives if France was allowed to participate, according to the sources. A French diplomatic source denied that such a request had been made but admitted that no French civil representative participated in the meeting, stating simply that France had an army general represented within the Mechanism.